How many cases of non-malignant asbestos-related disease are there each year and what are the trends over time?
• There were 117 deaths in 2008 where asbestosis is described as the underlying cause of death on the death certificate. • The annual number of new cases of asbestosis according to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Industrial Injuries and Disablement Benefit (IIDB) scheme (which compensates workers for prescribed occupational diseases) has risen erratically since the early 1980s, with the trend strongly increasing since the early 1990s reaching the current level of 825 in 2009. This is likely to be an underestimate of the total number of cases. • There were 460 new cases of disablement benefit for diffuse pleural thickening in 2009. • The trend in diffuse pleural thickening has increased over recent years, although this may be partly or wholly explained by the acceptance of claims under the IIDB scheme for unilateral (affecting only one lung) cases and other changes in data collection methods.
