Scottish Campaign Group Presses For Action -- MesoLink.org -- 08-18-04

Clydeside Action on Asbestos, a Scottish campaign group against asbestos is soon to celebrate its twentieth anniversary, and plans to mark the occasion by insisting that the Scottish Parliament process and pays out compensation claims and law suit for asbestos related disease more quickly.

Asbestos is the cause of a deadly cancer, mesothelioma, which can affect the lungs, heart or abdomen. This disease dramatically reduces the lifespan of the sufferer, leaving many with between four and twelve months to live on average.

This means that many victims never get to see their compensation claims come through, and die wondering whether their families and dependants will be financially secure.

The aim of the campaign group is to get this changed so that mesothelioma victims can at least enjoy the peace of mind that their families will not lose their home and end up with nothing after they have gone. Clydeside Action on Asbestos plans to draft a bill, which will treat all asbestos compensation claims with equal importance.

It is reported that nearly two thousand people in Scotland have already died from mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases, and many of these died before a penny of compensation was paid out.

The campaign group want to ensure that this is a situation that does not arise in the future.