Page 561 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 5 March 2008
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serious but still life-changing disease asbestosis. Asbestosis is a serious disease. It may take 10 years or more to develop after asbestos exposure. When asbestos fibres stay deep in the lungs, scar tissue forms around them, scarring the lungs, which may lead to disability or even death. The scar tissue stops oxygen moving into the bloodstream, so the person with asbestosis feels out of breath. There are limited measures to improve quality of life. Take Mr Banton’s portable oxygen bottle as an example. He used to refer to it as his “baby” because he would not go anywhere without it.
It has been estimated that by 2020, an additional 53,000 people will be affected with an asbestos related disease. Some 13,000 of those people will die of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer that is linked with asbestos exposure. There is no proven cure for mesothelioma, which can take 30 or 40 years after exposure to develop. As in Mr Banton’s case, if asbestos fibres are breathed into the stomach they may work their way through the stomach wall and cause mesothelioma in the lining of the peritoneum or abdomen. Once diagnosed, sufferers usually die from the disease within a few months.
A true fighter, Mr Banton worked hard for the establishment of the James Hardie compensation fund. When the new trust became operational, he turned his energies to other asbestos issues, including lobbying for government subsidies for the palliative drug Alimta. In January this year, it was announced that Alimta, the only drug available to relieve the symptoms of mesothelioma, will be available on the PBS. The drug can increase sufferers’ survival time and improve their quality of life but, at $20,000 or more for six treatments, has been out of reach for many patients. Now that the drug has been listed on the PBS, sufferers will pay just $31.30 for each prescription.
Having spoken to an official from the CFMEU yesterday, it is my understanding that there was a petition going around to get Alimta onto the PBS and that a number of the signatures came from here in the ACT. In fact, I think a goodly proportion of signatures came from here in the ACT. That is indicative of how this issue is of concern to people in the ACT. Mr Banton was also instrumental in getting chemotherapy onto the PBS.
The legacy of his campaigning will continue to help thousands of people well into the future. As part of this legacy, the New South Wales government has announced the construction of a $6.9 million laboratory to research asbestos related diseases at Concord repatriation general hospital. The state-of-the-art facility, to be named the Bernie Banton centre, will be located adjacent to the ANZAC Research Institute and will conduct clinical research into more effective treatment, earlier diagnosis and increased life expectancy for sufferers.
Mr Banton had a particular quality, an Australian stoicism, which allowed him to bring his struggle to the Australian public. No matter how sick, how sore or how sorry, he would be there, fighting for all those who had been affected as he had. He said before his death:
I had walked away from the unions for 30 years but during that campaign—
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