A Victorian community’s campaign for acknowledgement of its deadly asbestos legacy has led to a landmark health study. Former Latrobe Valley power industry workers have among the highest rates of asbestos-related disease in Australia due to the use of asbestos by the State Electricity Commission (Victoria) from 1921 to the 1980s.
For years these workers and their families struggled for recognition and support but, thanks to the Gippsland Asbestos Related Disease Support (GARDS) group, they now have access to counselling, a telephone help line, a drop-in centre and medical equipment.
Now about 700 of the Valley’s former SECV workers are taking part in the Power Industry Cohort Study.
Led by Dr Andrew Holloway, the study hopes to find “markers” in the blood of the workers that could indicate their risk of developing asbestos-related diseases, including the deadly cancer, mesothelioma.
The researchers had originally focused on the protein, mesothelin.
“We had three questions,” Dr Holloway said. “How much did the levels of mesothelin vary among the cohort; was there a relationship between the levels and exposure to asbestos; and how much did they (the levels) vary over time?”
After three years, his team has been able to discount mesothelin as an effective early screening tool for ARD – but their work has created a world-class biobank of DNA that is being sought by labs around the world.
“There is a lot of interest from overseas in using the information and DNA we have collected for future studies,” he said. “We set up this study to answer questions about early markers but it is also powered to answer questions that arise in the future. The research could one day lead to better diagnosis and treatment options for sufferers.”
Dr Holloway praised the second arm of the study, led by Professor Tony LaMontagne of the University of Melbourne, which encompasses an education program to give workers and their families a better understanding of asbestos-related disease.
“While my approach has been very much from the science point of view, Tony’s approach has been from a community and public health point of view. It has been of huge benefit to the community.”
The study recently received another year of funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
GARDS CEO Vicki Hamilton, whose father and grandfather died of asbestos-related disease, is proud of the Latrobe Valley’s role in ARD research.
“We are so proud of the people here who have given up their time, without payment, to take part in this research,” she said.
“They know it is not going to help them but that it could change the lives of future generations.”
When Mrs Hamilton joined GARDS in early 2000, the organisation had little community support, but the James Hardie court hearings in 2004 and 2005 changed all that. Suddenly the public became aware of the dangers of asbestos.
“We have gone from strength to strength,” she said.
By Catherine Madden