Recent work carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organizations has underscored the importance of assessing the economic dimension of the burden of diseases to better promote more efficient and effective environment and health policies. The WHO hosted a two-day conference for its member states to present, discuss and refine the methodologies used for assessing the societal economic costs of asbestos production and use, providing officials and decision-makers in countries with relevant evidence to enable policy decisions to be taken to shift to safe asbestos substitutes and prevent occupational and environmental exposure to asbestos.

NERA Senior Vice President, Lucy P. Allen, and NERA Vice President, Mary Elizabeth Stern, presented their report, co-authored with NERA Senior Consultant Jorge Baez and Frank George from the WHO Regional Office for Europe, for the session “Economic dimension and societal costs and benefits of banning asbestos.” They analyzed asbestos consumption and production trends and assessed country-wide costs of banning asbestos, as well as evaluating transition times away from asbestos use. They also quantified litigation costs and remediation costs for past asbestos producers and consumers.