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ASBESTOS.
NOT HERE.
NOT ANYWHERE.

Australians know asbestos kills.

But in many countries, corporations place the health and safety of workers and communities in danger by mining, manufacturing, and using asbestos. Every day, thousands of people are still exposed to deadly asbestos. While some people profit, other people die.

But we are building a movement of people in Australia to join with unionists and campaigners across South East Asia to support their struggle to ban asbestos and eliminate asbestos-related diseases.

We want to secure an asbestos-free future because as long as asbestos is being used anywhere, it remains a risk everywhere.

TAKE ACTION

Join APHEDA

Contribute to the global organising efforts to eradicate asbestos

Become a member!

Show your Solidarity

Be one of the thousands we need to win.

Download your solidarity sign!

Spread the word

Educate your workmates on the global campaign to ban asbestos

Download the presentation!

Sign the petition

Let's keep COVID-19 relief asbestos-free!

Sign here!

CAMPAIGN
BREAKTHROUGHS

Cambodia

Cambodian customs trained to detect asbestos.

See the photos!

Indonesia

Asbestos lobby exposed in Indonesia.

Watch the videos!

Laos

Lao parliamentarians meet with world’s leading asbestos experts.

Read more!

Vietnam

Vietnam announces asbestos ban in 2023!

Read more!

The Impact of Your Solidarity

When we asked lab technician Moniroth about her role in helping secure an asbestos-free future for Cambodia, she told us she’s proud to be able to warn people about the dangers of products that contain asbestos.

By joining the campaign, you can help people like Moniroth protect workers from the dangers of asbestos.

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

Blow to asbestos in Asia Pacific countries

In the first agreement of its kind, 14 countries of the Asia Pacific region including major asbestos-user countries like India, Indonesia, Vietnam ...
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Consultant Evaluator Needed

The evaluation of the Asbestos: Not Here, Not Anywhere campaign will assist the APHEDA Board in planning and consider possible future program actio...
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Asbestos imports and roof sheet production drop 66% in Vi...

There has been a very significant decrease in the asbestos roof sheet market in Vietnam in the past 10 years.
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Facts about chrysotile asbestos: Human health tragedy and...

Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA prepared this factsheet as an information resource for policy dialogue for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases.
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Activists organise forum on global fight against dust dis...

A thought-provoking forum was held in Sydney on August 24 about the global campaign to stop diseases caused by silica and asbestos.
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Cambodia details plans to ban asbestos in 2025; Asia urge...

The Cambodian government has released details about how a proposed asbestos ban will come into effect, including details for action, a timeline for...
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Diagnosing asbestos-related diseases in Indonesia

The World Health Organization estimates that 1,661 people die from asbestos disease in Indonesia every year, including 1,368 lung cancer cases and ...
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Rotterdam Convention reform campaign gets close in Geneva

A proposal by Australia and Switzerland aimed to prevent small numbers of Parties (mostly companies who sell chemicals) from blocking their listing...
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Cambodia will stop using asbestos from 2025

The Cambodian Minister of Labor and Vocational Training and the Australian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia discussed moving toward prohibitio...
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Cambodia to stop using asbestos from 2025 to improve work...

In a major breakthrough for the global campaign to eliminate asbestos related diseases in Asia, the Cambodian Government has this week announced it...
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Asbestos awareness billboard displayed the Australian emb...

With the support of the Australian embassy in Laos, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has put up a billboard in front of the Australian Embassy in Laos to hi...
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A critical moment for the Rotterdam convention on hazardo...

The Rotterdam Convention will convene this month to decide whether countries have a right to know about hazardous substances, including asbestos, t...
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Indonesian earthquake prompts asbestos hazards training

During the cleanup after the West Java earthquake last year, emergency personnel removed broken roof sheet, unaware that they were being exposed to...
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One step closer to listing asbestos in Rotterdam Convention

The Rotterdam Convention needs urgent reform to list asbestos as a hazardous substance.
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Study trip exposes asbestos roof sheet manufacturers’ dis...

In areas surrounding asbestos factories, broken asbestos roof sheets are being dumped in open paddock where farming communities plant rice and grow...
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Cambodia launches national asbestos profile; sets sights ...

Australia’s ambassador to Cambodia, Mr. Pablo Kang, helped launch the 2nd Cambodian National Asbestos Profile at an event in Phnom Penh held in ear...
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Junior union officials trained on asbestos safety

Junior trade union officials attended three days of training on workplace safety and asbestos eradication in Laos.
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“We will not stop raising our voices” – Indonesian delega...

The Russian Federation have once again blocked a decision to list chrysotile asbestos in the Rotterdam Convention during the ongoing 10th Conferenc...
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Asbestos in the spotlight during visit from Southeast Asi...

Delegates from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia were warmly welcomed by the asbestos safety and eradication community in Australia this month.
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Asbestos ban in Australia continues to be undermined by u...

Ban asbestos campaigners from Indonesia have been invited to speak at the 2022 Asbestos Safety and Management Conference, 18-20 May in the Blue Mou...
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Asia Development Bank one step closer to asbestos ban

The Asian Development Bank has taken a step towards excluding asbestos-containing materials from projects they finance.
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APHEDA partner LION fighting to rid Indonesia of asbestos

Heath care giant Johnson & Johnson is facing multiple crises after it was found the company’s talcum powder was sometimes tainted with carcinogenic...
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A year in review: Asbestos – Not Here, Not Anywhere campaign

The asbestos industry is in decline, but thousands of tonnes of asbestos-containing materials still pour into Asia.
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Asia’s campaign to ban asbestos making progress

Anti-asbestos action groups in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam have has success advocating for policy reform and support activities leading t...
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Action on asbestos in Asia and the Pacific

Pacific countries discuss how to dispose of asbestos in their small island countries, new partners join the campaign in Vietnam, and journalists ge...
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CALLS FOR ASBESTOS BANS ACROSS ASIA AND PACIFIC INTENSIFY

The fight to ban asbestos worldwide is gaining new momentum as networks across Asia and the Pacific pledged recently to step up the battle to prote...
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MEDIA RELEASE: EuroCham Cambodia Urges quick action and A...

EuroCham Cambodia has pledged its support to ban the use of deadly asbestos across the country. The move comes as global pressure to curtail its us...
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ABAN 2021 Conference calls on Asian countries to speed up...

On September 28-30, ban asbestos and victim networks from across the Asia Pacific region came together online for the Asia Ban Asbestos Network’s (...
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Vietnam Eliminating Asbestos Disease Campaign Update

Asbestos fibre imports in Vietnam have fallen 50% in the last 2 years, partly due to our awareness program and partly to growing supply of alternat...
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MEDIA RELEASE: Cambodia Pledges to Boost Awareness and Ac...

Cambodian Government representatives, employers and trade unions have come together to ramp up awareness about the dangers of using materials conta...
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Asbestos campaign progresses in Cambodia despite worsenin...

Despite a new wave of COVID-19 spreading across Southeast Asia, progress is being made in APHEDA’s Eliminating Asbestos Diseases campaign in Cambod...
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Asbestos and its impacts in Cambodia (Khmer language)

The first asbestos awareness video in the Khmer language has been completed. It targets construction workers, a high exposure risk group in Cambod...
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Asbestos industry takes a big hit in Asia

After many years of campaigning, the global ban asbestos campaign has chalked up a significant win as the asbestos industry is forced to take a big...
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Statement on Palestine, 19 May 2021

The Australian government must call on the Israeli Netanyahu government to immediately cease the bombing of Gaza, and restrain the attacks on Pales...
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The fight to ban asbestos continues as Indonesia responds...

Local Initiative for Occupational Safety and Health Network (LION) Indonesia is keeping up the fight to ban asbestos while responding to COVID-19.
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Global Asbestos Awareness Week 2021

Global Asbestos Awareness Week 2021: in Australia alone, we still experience an estimated 4000 deaths per year from asbestos related disease.
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Ground breaking Asbestos workshop in Laos

In February 2021, an asbestos workshop in Laos caught the attention of the local media as the Health Minister voiced support for the full phasing o...
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Asbestos Ban Campaign Update

It was a busy month for the campaign in Vietnam with a capacity building training courses and workshops for doctors and policymakers.
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Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) should seize ...

In November 2020, APHEDA made a submission to the AIIB Environmental and Social Framework review to ensure that economic development does not inclu...
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Organising to raise awareness of asbestos risk in Cambodia

In Cambodia, union organisers are refreshing their strategies and tactics to educate workers about the dangers of asbestos. Using distance learning...
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Cambodia: First Tripartite Consultation Workshop a Big Su...

In October 2020, APHEDA’s partner organisation, the Building Wood Workers Trade Union Federation (BWTUC), took the lead on Cambodia’s first Tripart...
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No Asbestos in International Development! – campaig...

Update on the campaign to stop Multilateral Development Banks funding asbestos - part of a global push to make sure billions of aid dollars does no...
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Hanoi Workshop: “Handling Hazardous Waste Including Asbes...

On 31 August 2020, a workshop covering the latest information on the current situation of hazardous waste - including asbestos - took place in Hano...
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Statement on Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting

Statement on ADB Annual Meeting - the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Must Clarify Asbestos Policy Now!
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Asbestos boards a ferry into Sydney Harbour

Asbestos has been discovered on ferries bound for Sydney. But how did asbestos end up on the ferries when asbestos has been banned in Australia sin...
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Asbestos Ban Update: Campaigning in a Global Crisis Webinar

In this special webinar event, hear updates from three key leaders in the global campaign to ban asbestos - Pooja Gupta from the India Ban Asbestos...
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Asbestos Awareness Promoted in Laos

The following short films were made by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for South-East Asia and the Asia Ban Asbestos Network to...
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No Asbestos in Covid-19 Relief!

Billions of dollars are being poured into the much needed global response to the COVID-19 pandemic response. We need to make sure that none of the ...
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BREAKTHROUGH! Indonesian City of Bandung Expands Asbestos...

In a major breakthrough in the campaign to ban asbestos, the Indonesian city of Bandung has announced that they will be expanding their asbestos ba...
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Ban Asbestos Campaigners Visit Australia for Training in ...

Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA hosted a delegation of nine ban asbestos campaigners and union leaders from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam to tra...
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BREAKTHROUGH: The Asian Development Bank Commits to End A...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revealed that they will stop allowing asbestos products to be used in their projects from 2020. This will have...
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Video: Knocking Down the Lies of the Asbestos Lobby

Our Campaign Coordinator Phillip Hazelton was interviewed on The World about the misinformation campaign that the asbestos lobby has launched in So...
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2019 Solidarity Award: Madame An Recognised for Tireless ...

At the 2019 Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA Annual General Meeting, we recognised Madame An for her tireless campaigning to secure an asbestos-free futur...
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Asbestos Safety Conference in Perth Boosts Campaign to Ba...

In Perth, a delegation of Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA partners from Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia joined the 2019 Asbestos Safety Conference to learn f...
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Video: How Cambodia is Tackling The Dangers of Asbestos

With the support of ASEA, the Australian Embassy in Cambodia, and the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) through DFAT, Cambodian lab technic...
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Video: Challenging the Asbestos Lobby in Indonesia

The campaign to ban asbestos has been featured on ABC News, which traveled to Indonesia to report on the push-back from the asbestos lobby.
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Asbestos Lobby Targets Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA

Because of the growing momentum to ban asbestos in Asia, the asbestos lobby is fighting to reverse the major gains made towards securing an asbesto...
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Spotting the Dangers of Asbestos in Cambodia

For the first time, Cambodian customs officers can identify asbestos-containing materials, helping keep workers and consumers safe, and helping uni...
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Laos Parliament Meets with World’s Leading Asbestos...

Addressing the dangerous levels of asbestos consumption in Laos, Laotian parliamentarians met last week with scientists and experts to discuss the ...
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Fight to Ban Asbestos Boosted in Cambodia

In Cambodia, the fight to ban asbestos has taken a major step forward with the launch of the National Asbestos Profile. The National Asbestos Profi...
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Campaign to end asbestos in Indonesia intensifies as impo...

In Indonesia, APHEDA is working with local partners to ramp up efforts to win an asbestos ban.
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APHEDA takes asbestos campaign to the head of ADB

In May, our Australia-based Ban Asbestos Campaign Coordinator attended the Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting in Fiji to raise the issue of fina...
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Frustrations continue over listing of Chrysotile Asbestos...

Rotterdam Convention 2019 wrap up: a successful challenge to consensus doesn’t stop continued frustrations over the listing of chrysotile asbestos.
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Media Release: Rotterdam Convention (CoP9) – 10 May...

Asian delegation slams the failure for the 7th time to list chrysotile asbestos onto the Rotterdam Convention due to unethical veto of asbestos pr...
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Subono Speaks out at Rotterdam Convention Meeting (CoP9)

Subono's story: Subono, a victim of chrysotile asbestos, speaks out on behalf of victims of asbestos related disease at the Rotterdam Convention (C...
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Media Release: Rotterdam Convention (CoP9) – 3 May ...

Rotterdam Convention: A 12-year veto of asbestos producer countries to the listing of chrysotile asbestos costs lives and makes a mockery of scient...
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Safe Development Cannot Include Asbestos

Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA is calling on the Asian Development Bank to update the Safeguard Policy Statement to include all asbestos products as pro...
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Global Activists tell Rotterdam – List Chrysotile now!

It's time to list chrysotile! In May 2019, representatives of countries from around the globe will meet for the 9th Conference of Parties (CoP) of ...
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Asbestos Campaign Update – February 2019

2019 is shaping up to be an important year in global efforts to ban asbestos. Here are some of our recent highlights from the Asbestos. Not here. N...
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Asbestos Campaign Update – January 2019

2018 saw the campaign to ban asbestos in Asia take significant steps forward. Read about the key achievements in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Indone...
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MEDIA RELEASE: Australian Delegation studying asbestos vi...

Australian delegation studying asbestos threats to health in Vietnam commend Prime Minister’s decision to stop asbestos roofsheet production by 2023.
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MEDIA RELEASE: Cancer Prevention on Australian Embassy Bi...

The Australian Embassy and the Office of the Embassy of Canada in Laos cancer prevention message on billboard.
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United to Ban Asbestos in Vietnam and Indonesia

In September 2018, a team of union leaders, activists and a federal Member of Parliament visited Vietnam and Indonesia to observe and support the c...
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The Government’s Response to Asbestos Report: the good an...

Last week the Government released their response to the interim report on protecting Australians from the threat of asbestos. Here's our summary of...
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Updates from the Ban Asbestos Campaign – July 2018

In asbestos campaign news this month: sign our petition to end illegal asbestos imports, join the solidarity tour to Indonesia and Vietnam and hear...
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Ban Asbestos activists’ Speaking Tour Connects Indonesian...

In May 2018, two anti-asbestos activists and unionists from Indonesia - Darisman and Subono - visited Australia to talk about their campaign to win...
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LION ramps up the fight against asbestos in Indonesia

Local Initiative for Occupational Safety and Health Network (LION) Indonesia is an education and campaigning organisation and has become a key play...
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Asbestos Solidarity Tour 2018

Join us for the Asbestos. Not here. Not anywhere. Solidarity Tour to Vietnam and Indonesia. You will have the opportunity to observe the campaign a...
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Indonesian ban asbestos campaigners 2018 Australian tour

In May this year Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA is bringing out two Indonesian activists to speak to Australian audiences about the fight to ban asbestos ...
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Five things young people should know about asbestos

The theme for Workers' Memorial Day 2018 is 'Building safe and healthy workplaces for future generations'. Here are five things young people should...
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“Asbestos and My Family” a poem by Deidre van...

Deidre van Gerven has lost four members of her family to asbestos. In 2015, she began writing poetry and has compiled her work in a book titled 'As...
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Media Release: Laos takes steps to end asbestos

Laos takes steps to end asbestos - workshop to launch the development of the National Action Plan to Eliminate Asbestos-Related Diseases...
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Vietnam: ‘PM makes Historic Asbestos Ban Announcement’

In January 2018, the Prime Minister of Vietnam made a historic announcement of a deadline to ban asbestos in the construction sector by 2023.
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India Ban Asbestos Network launched!

In December 2017, 16 organisations from across India, made the momentous decision to campaign as a national asbestos ban network.
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Media Release Russian Economic Blackmail on Sri Lanka con...

Economic blackmail by Russia against Sri Lanka’s asbestos ban decision slammed by international trade unions and health networks.
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Media Release: Open Letter on Asbestos – stop the c...

15 Dec 2017: Today an influential group of scientists and researchers launched a global campaign to counter the misinformation from the asbestos in...
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Asbestos: Open letter to Governments and other policy mak...

A-BAN is seeking signatures from scientists, researchers, doctors, specialists, victims and trade unions to sign Open Letter to Asian Governments.
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Brazil Supreme Court Bans Chrysotile Asbestos – Dec...

One of the last asbestos producer countries has decided to ban the deadly material as a result of a majority Supreme Court decision this week.
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Asbestos Campaign: where we are at and where we are headi...

In 2017, our campaign to ban asbestos in South East Asia ramped up and significant progress is being made. We look forward to a big year of wins in...
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Kicking Goals Towards Eradicating Asbestos in the Asia Pa...

October 2017 was a month of kicking goals in the asbestos campaign. Here are three key developments that highlight the progress (and history!) bein...
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Desperate Measures Deployed by Asbestos Industry

For decades, the asbestos industry has pushed the false 'safe use' argument. With more countries looking at bans, desperate measures are being depl...
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New momentum to ban Asbestos: Campaigning in 5 South East...

A 3-week Asbestos tour to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia has built new momentum to ban asbestos. Here are the highlights...
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5-day training brings asbestos hazard awareness and conse...

Press release: Cambodia asbestos workshop on strengthening capacity and expanding mechanisms towards an asbestos ban.
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Shaking things up at COP 8 of Rotterdam Convention

Despite the listing of chrysotile asbestos being blocked yet again at the recent Rotterdam Convention meeting in May, the Global Alliance Against A...
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Media Release: Global Asbestos Action Alliance on failure...

The Rotterdam Convention has failed miserably as chrysotile asbestos blocked again from listing, continuing to put millions of workers at risk.
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Letter from Asbestos Factory Workers – Siti’s...

Siti worked in an asbestos factory for 23 years in Indonesia. In 2012 she was diagnosed with asbestosis. This is Siti's story.
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Global Asbestos Action Alliance Media Event Notice

Global petition demanding action on chrysotile and reform of the Rotterdam Convention to be handed to COP President Rotterdam Convention Tuesday 2n...
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Global Asbestos Action Alliance confronts global asbestos...

The Global Asbestos Action Alliance will renew it’s push this week to have white asbestos listed as a global banned substance as the 8th Conference...
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Melbourne Unionists Stand with Rajendra

ade unionists in Melbourne have come out in force this month to support the Union Aid Abroad APHEDA-led #StandWithRajendra campaign.
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Rotterdam Convention 8th Meeting Kicks Off

Trade unionists, asbestos diseases victims groups, health and environment groups and ban asbestos networks have now descended on Geneva.
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Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA People: Meet Wira

This month we spoke with Wiranta Yudha, Coordinator of LION (Local Initiative OHS Network), a health and safety organisation in Indonesia campaigni...
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Laos PDR’s deadly consumer addiction – asbestos!

Until relatively recently, asbestos was an unknown and difficult to publicly discuss issue in Laos. It is now getting high level attention.
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Rajendra’s Story

Rajendra is a victim of the global asbestos industry. He's taking the voice of victims of asbestos-related diseases to the Rotterdam Convention mee...
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Putting the brakes on asbestos in global trade

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA, trade unions and ban asbestos networks globally are organising together to make 2017 the year to finally shake up the glob...
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Activists from across south-east Asia are stepping up the...

Asbestos is a thriving industry and asbestos lobbyists have set their sights on south-east Asia as the next frontier for new trade markets in the T...
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Australians have become complacent about asbestos

The Roman Empire used it for household goods, its name is derived from the Greek word for indestructible and evidence of it has even been found in ...
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Ramping Up The Fight On Asbestos

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“We never knew. The factory owners told us it was safe”

Bono is the general secretary of SERBUK, an Indonesian trade union based in West Java. It was only after working in an asbestos roof sheeting fact...
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Welcome Brother Wira!

In March, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA welcomed a friend, Wira Ginting, from our new partners in Indonesia LION and INABAN (the Indonesia Ban Asbestos N...
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Asbestos. Not here. Not anywhere.

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COLLABORATING ORGANISATIONS

The campaign to ban asbestos is built by unions and campaigners across South East Asia who are tackling asbestos in their workplaces and communities. They train workers in asbestos safety, educate the public on the dangers of asbestos, and pressure decision-makers to take action to ban asbestos.

BWTUC

The BWTUC is working to protect construction workers in Cambodia from the dangers of asbestos.

INA-BAN

INA-BAN is a coalition of ban asbestos campaigners working for an asbestos-free future in Indonesia.

LION Indonesia

LION is a grass-roots movement of activists campaigning for safe workplaces and communities in Indonesia.

A-BAN

A-BAN is a network of ban asbestos activists campaigning for safe workplaces and communities across Asia.

Institute of Resources Environment and Community (IRECO)

BWI

The BWI is a global union federation representing 12 million trade unionists in construction, wood, and forestry sectors.

IBAS

IBAS provides facilitates information sharing between groups working to achieve a global asbestos ban.

Asia Monitor Resource Centre

The AMRC supports a democratic and independent labour movement in Asia, promoting the respect of labour rights, gender equality, and workers’ participation.

Asbestos Diseases Research Institute (ADRI)

ADRI supports laboratory research, clinical sciences, prevention, and public health to prevent asbestos-related diseases.

Lao Federation of Trade Unions (LFTU)

The LFTU is the national union federation of Laos, representing 178,000 workers.

Solidar Suisse

Solidar Suisse is the solidarity organisation of the Swiss labour movement.

Vietnam Health Environment Management Agency (VIHEMA)

Vietnam Ban Asbestos Network

INA-BAN is a coalition of ban asbestos campaigners working for an asbestos-free future in Vietnam.

Vietnam Occupational Safety and Health Association (VOSHA)

News from the Campaign

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