Abstract
This article describes the history of the asbestos use regulation process in Taiwan and the associated factors leading to its total ban in 2018. Despite the long history of asbestos mining and manufacturing since the Japanese colonial period, attempts to understand the impact of asbestos on the health of the population and to control its use did not emerge until the early 1980s. We attempted to investigate the driving forces and obstructions involved in asbestos regulations by reviewing available public sources and scientific journal articles and conducting interviews with key propagators of the asbestos regulation and ban. Correlation between asbestos exposure and asbestos-related diseases has already been established; however, authorities have been unable to effectively regulate the extensive application of asbestos in various light industries that support economic growth since the 1960s. More stringent regulations on asbestos use in industries and an eventual ban were caused indirectly by appeals made by visionary scholars and healthcare professionals but also due to the subsidence of asbestos-related industries. With the elucidation of factors that affect asbestos regulation and ban, a thorough long-term healthcare plan for the neglected victims of asbestos-related diseases and upstream measures for policy change must be developed.
Highlights
The implementation of the national policy leading to the total asbestos ban in Taiwan on 1 January 2018 marks a historic moment for the country [1]
We showed the obstructive and facilitating factors regarding asbestos regulations and the eventual total ban in Taiwan
Our study highlights four important driving forces involved in asbestos regulations in Taiwan, including the institutionalization of environmental and occupational medicine, appeals made by public health scholars, transnational advocacy works, and the transformation of industry
Summary
The implementation of the national policy leading to the total asbestos ban in Taiwan on 1 January 2018 marks a historic moment for the country [1]. Such a ban reveals a health policy-making process resulting from the transnational dynamics among public health scientists. Meticulous efforts have been conducted in Taiwan to establish the relationship between asbestos exposure and asbestos-related diseases (ARDs); regulations and the final total ban on asbestos depend largely on growing environmental awareness, transnational networking among advocates, and the decline of asbestos-related industries. Asbestos remains an environmental hazard despite the forthcoming stringent regulations on its industrial use. Ionnagdwdiotirokne,rsthwe hporehseanncdeleodf ainsvbeessttiogsatteoxrstileeqsu, icpepmeednwt, iitnhsuthlaethioignh, aenstdlebvrealkoef-lpineirnsgonmalatperroiatelsct[i1v3e,1e4q]u. iIpnmaedndtit(iPoPnE, )thtoe pcorensdeunccteaoirf isnavmepstliignagtsosrusrepqruisiepdpemdawnyitwh othrkeehrisgahnedstelmevpellooyfeprseorsfothnealinpsrpoetecctetidveasebqeusitpoms feanctto(rPiPesEd) utoricnogntdhuecttimaier swahmepnlimngasnysuwrporrikseedrsmanadnyemwporlokyeresrsanladckeemdpalowyaerresnoefssthoef itnhsephecetaeldtharsibseksstofrsofmactaosrbieesstdosureixnpgotshuereti.me when many workers and employers lacked awareness of the health risks from asbestos exposure
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