The IAS Monitor Mesothelioma has been updated on the IAS website with the figures for 2014 (NKR) and part of the IAS figures for 2015. It can be seen that in the Netherlands the number of people who receive mesothelioma annually is stable at over 500. Of these, nearly 90% are male and more than 80% are above 65 at the time the diagnosis was made. By far the largest part, exposure in the work is the cause of the disease. If the developments in the characteristics of the victims are examined, the following issues arise.
Development in characteristics asbestos victims with mesothelioma
If the development is examined in more detail, the following 5 points stand out.
Number: The number of people who have annual mesothelioma has been around 500 per year since 2005. If we take a closer look at the period 1989-2013, we can see that until 2005 there is an increase in absolute numbers from 274 in 1982 to 502 in 2005. After that, this number stabilizes around 500 annually. The incidence (number per million inhabitants ) has been decreasing among men since 2010.
The average age at which people get the disease mesothelioma is increasing. The increase is mainly in the proportion of 65- to 84-year-olds. This is a trend that has been going on for years. A possible explanation is that people generally get older. A reason may also lie in that it takes longer and longer for people to become ill (latency time), under the influence of limitations in use (size) and application (type of work and product). The latency may be longer as the exposure has been less intensive and vice versa. The latency period of the people in the database of the IAS is now more than 50 years.
Regional spread . Against the national trend, the incidence in Friesland, Noord-Brabant, Groningen and Drenthe is increasing. The incidence in Zeeland and South Holland decreases compared to the national average. This has to do with the closure of most shipyards in the seventies. Many (former) employees with mesothelioma are now deceased. The more national application of asbestos in the later years of the last century also translates into a larger incidence in the other regions.
Survival. For years it has been seen that a quarter of patients die within three months of diagnosis and two-thirds within a year. This despite worldwide medical research into the development and treatment of mesothelioma.
Women. The proportion of younger (65 min) mesothelioma patients is higher among women than among men. One explanation is that women are younger on average when the diagnosis is made. They have also worked relatively less in specific asbestos risk professions. For this reason, women are more likely to appear in the TNS scheme than in the TAS scheme.
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