1,063 recognized as sufferers of asbestos-linked diseases

A labor ministry survey showed Monday that 1,063 people were eligible for workers' compensation as sufferers of asbestos-linked diseases such as mesothelioma in fiscal 2008 as they were affected by asbestos while working. The figure was up 6.1 percent from the previous fiscal year, although it was less than the record 1,784 in fiscal 2006, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

In the reporting fiscal year, 1,268 people applied for workers' compensation due to health problems caused by asbestos, up 12.5 percent from fiscal 2007, of whom 560 were diagnosed as mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, and 503 as lung cancer, the ministry said. Most of the victims were from the construction and manufacturing industries, the survey showed.