Proclamation presented to www.myMeso.org designates April 1-7 as Asbestos Awareness Week in Montgomery, Ala., in conjunction with National Asbestos Awareness Week

MONTGOMERY, ALA. (April 6, 2010) – Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange presented a proclamation today to Wendi Lewis of www.myMeso.org declaring April 1-7 as Asbestos Awareness Week in the city of Montgomery, Alabama. The proclamation supports National Asbestos Awareness Week, as established by Senate Resolution 427.

Montgomery based law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., established www.MyMeso.org in February 2008 as a public awareness and community outreach effort to increase awareness of the dangers of asbestos exposure. It is the primary goal of www.MyMeso.org to raise awareness in the public about mesothelioma and related asbestos diseases, to provide a forum for those affected by mesothelioma, and to create a network of information and resources expanding hope for a cure.

It is the purpose of Asbestos Awareness Week to raise public awareness about the prevalence of asbestos and the dangers of asbestos exposure in the United States and around the world. Microscopic asbestos fibers can be inhaled or ingested, and imbed themselves in the body where they can cause diseases such as asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that can affect the chest and lungs, the abdomen, or the heart.

The U.S. Congress has recognized a National Asbestos Awareness Day or Week the first week of April for the past six years. The awareness effort is a project of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), which is the largest organization in the United States serving as the voice of asbestos victims. The ADAO lobbies for the complete ban of asbestos and asbestos-containing products in the U.S. It is estimated that within the next decade 100,000 workers around the world will die of an asbestos-related disease. That equals 30 deaths each day.

Current statistics show 2,000-3,000 people are diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma in the U.S. each year, and 10,000 Americans die from all asbestos-related diseases. Mesothelioma was not tracked as a specific cause of death by federal health officials until 1999, so actual totals for mesothelioma may be much higher.