Objective: In the framework of the World Health Organization (WHO)-Istituto superiore di sanità (ISS) joint research project «Cohort studies in areas of high environmental risk in Sicily», since 2007 a working group ISS-Local Health Unit Messina 5 (AUSL ME5) assessed the issue emerged during the course of a health monitoring program launched in 2003, dedicated to former employees of an asbestos-cement factory, and their relatives (378 subjects, 119 ex employees and 259 relatives).
Methods: Communication about the health risks linked to previous exposure to asbestos, diagnostic tools for asbestos-related diseases, available preventive measures (stopping smoking tobacco, avoiding further exposure to respiratory irritants, prophylaxis of any intercurrent respiratory diseases) were focused. The working group discussed the whole structure of the activity in progress, and identified the difficulties emerged in previous years.
Results and conclusions: The authors developed a health plan that could be useful in similar Sicilian contexts with public health problems due to past activities with asbestos.