The Asbestos Fund (AFA) recognised 253 people with mesothelioma or lung adenocarcinoma, a cancer caused by asbestos, in 2023 – a quarter more than the average for the past five years, the federal occupational risk agency Fedris announced on Thursday.
Over the past five years, the Asbestos Fund recognised an average of 200 victims with mesothelioma each year, with an outlier of 227 in 2019. However, a peak of 253 recognitions occurred in 2023. Only in 2008, a year after the fund was established, was that figure even higher – with 255 recognitions.
"It could be that it was an exceptional peak and we will see significantly fewer victims next year," Fedris said in a press release, adding that it is difficult to give an unequivocal explanation. "The increasing media attention may also have resulted in more people finding their way to the Asbestos Fund. After all, not all victims apply to the AFA. Every year, about 300 people die of mesothelioma after asbestos exposure."
This means that the rise does not necessarily indicate that more people were diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma (which is almost always incurable) last year.
Exposed through profession or environment
Logically, such a spike should have occurred earlier; while the disease often occurs only 30 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos fibres, asbestos use had already been phased out by the 1990s before Belgium completely banned it in 2001.
The Asbestos Fund saw the light of day in 2007, to support victims of certain asbestos-related diseases and relatives who are entitled to compensation. Victims of mesothelioma, for example, receive a one-off compensation of €11,951 and a monthly interest of €2,185.20, in addition to reimbursement of healthcare costs.
Of the 253 recognised victims in 2023, 177 were exposed to asbestos through their profession. The most affected were those working in processing raw asbestos, but victims also included plumbers, welders and metal workers.
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There were also 76 'environmental victims', which are often people who lived near an asbestos-processing company.
The Asbestos Fund also compensates victims of other asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestosis (8 in 2023), diffuse pleural thickening (18), lung cancer (52), laryngeal cancer (0) and ovarian cancer (0). The first two diseases show a decreasing trend, while the other three have only just been recognised as asbestos-related diseases.
