Did you know that every 4 February for the past 21 years has been World Cancer Day?

The international awareness day is led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to raise awareness, improve education and push for personal, collective and government action to create a world where millions of preventable cancer deaths are stopped and everyone has access to life-saving cancer treatment.

Every year hundreds of activities and events take place around the world on 4 February to remind us all that we have a role to play in reducing the global impact of cancer.

This year’s theme, ‘I Am and I Will’, is all about individuals and their commitment to act. UICC believes that through positive actions, together we can reach the target of reducing the number of premature deaths from cancer and noncommunicable diseases by a third by 2030.

This is a cause very close to our hearts at Acorn Analytical Services.

Our day-to-day work involves us helping organisations to manage their asbestos safely through a comprehensive suite of asbestos consultancy services from asbestos air testing and asbestos surveys to removal management, and UKATA accredited training.

We work hard to solve our clients asbestos challenges swiftly to save them time, cost and stress and help them to future proof their businesses with innovative asbestos management, compliant to the most extensive of regulations.

We set incredibly high standards for ourselves because we are professionals, because we are passionate about what we do and because we know that the work we do can save people’s lives.

Make no mistake about it – if you have asbestos and it is not managed properly you are putting yourself and anyone else who comes into contact with it at risk. Although asbestos is now banned in more than 60 countries the substance remains in many buildings, including here in the UK, and asbestos exposure is still the number one cause of work-related deaths in the world.

Asbestos is known to cause four types of cancers – mesothelioma, lung cancer, ovarian cancer and laryngeal cancer. In addition, it also causes a range of noncancerous conditions such as asbestosis, plueral plaques, plueral effusions, pleuritis, diffuse pleural thickening and atelectasis.

About 90,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases across the world each year, including around 5,000 in our own country. Out of all the conditions, asbestos-related lung cancer claims the most lives, followed by mesothelioma.

What makes these deaths even more tragic is they are preventable. If asbestos is managed properly by trained professionals there is no reason for it to lead to anyone’s death.

So, in the spirit of this year’s World Cancer Day theme, ‘I Am and I Will’, what are we doing to prevent more people from developing asbestos-related cancers and other conditions today?

Acorn Analytical Services removes the risk of asbestos from people’s lives on a daily basis but we also work tirelessly to promote awareness about the substance and the dangers associated with it through our regular blogs, podcasts, social media posts and our free book, ‘Asbestos The Dark Arts’.

We are also incredibly proud to be championing a new campaign here in the UK called #ActionMeso. It is bringing together the diverse mesothelioma community for the first time to raise awareness about the condition and to lobby for action to be taken to eradicate this terrible, incurable but preventable disease.

As part of our efforts, we are looking forward to interviewing two of the leading lights of the campaign soon for one of our upcoming podcasts and we will continue to promote #ActionMeso in our blogs and through social media.

So, maybe now is the time to ask yourself what you can do to make a difference? Firstly, you can learn more about World Cancer Day here or find out more about how you can support #ActionMeso here

More importantly, if you suspect a building you own contains asbestos contact our professional asbestos consultancy today. Don’t put off doing something which could potentially save someone’s life.

If you have an asbestos headache that you’ve been trying to ignore get in touch with us so we can take the problem away from you now.

If you would like further information or advice on asbestos and asbestos training, call the team on 0844 818 0895.