The biennial International Mesothelioma Interest Group’s Annual Scientific Meeting will be taking place in Kyoto, Japan, from August 31st to September 3rd.

The event allows asbestos experts and cancer researchers to meet, hear keynote speeches and take part in educational seminars.

I was the only lawyer to speak at the 2002 meeting in Heidelberg and found the whole experience very interesting.

It’s telling that this year’s meeting is in Asia where many countries still import and use vast amounts of asbestos every year. Our experience in the UK tells us that decades from now, millions of people across Asia will be suffering from asbestos-related cancers.

Find out more about this year’s conference

I recently became aware of an inquest into the death of Ann Beaufoy, a former administrator of a National Trust property in North Yorkshire.

The coroner recorded that Mrs Beaufoy died of pleural mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure. He also said there was no evidence of exposure to asbestos other than when Mrs Beaufoy was working at Beningborough Hall, a National Trust property near York. More details on the inquest are available on the York Press website.

This sad case was of particular interest to me because of the exposure to asbestos at a National Trust property. I am a National Trust member and along with thousands of others I have visited National Trust properties over the years. I'm sure that we all hope that those visits were safe.

The National Trust says that asbestos has now been removed from all of their properties to meet national standards. That is a positive move and other organisations that are responsible for the maintenance of public spaces and workplaces should look to remove asbestos to minimise the danger caused to employees and the public.

People with a professional or personal interest in mesothelioma and the dangers of asbestos may be aware of the British Asbestos Newsletter, which recently marked its 20th year of publication.

The newsletter is edited by Laurie Kazan-Allen, co-ordinator of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat.

A special edition has been published, looking back over the past 20 years and the progress made in the battle to ban asbestos and achieve justice for victims.

The special edition, to which I contributed a piece on asbestos litigation, is available to read online. Click here to read the newsletter.

I have also recently reached a personal milestone. It is now 20 years since I handled my first asbestos cancer case. I represented a man named Irving Sheldon who had been exposed to asbestos while serving in the Royal Navy.

20 years on and some progress has been made. The general public are much more aware of the dangers of asbestos and a number of high-profile cases, including June Hancock’s battle against Turner & Newall, have set precedents that improved access to compensation for those exposed to asbestos.

Sadly there is still much work to do. We continue to see thousands of cases of mesothelioma each year, which means the British Asbestos Newsletter is as important today as it was 20 years ago.

Researchers in the USA have developed a vaccine that may be able to fight mesothelioma and help sufferers to live longer.

The study was funded by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation and involved giving three vaccines to ten mesothelioma patients. All patients displayed increased levels of antibodies and three showed signs that their tumours had decreased in size.

Side-effects did not seem to be as severe as those shown by people undergoing chemotherapy, although eight of the patients developed flu like symptoms that lasted for two days.

Scientists involved in the study hope that further research may eventually lead to a vaccine that could be given to people exposed to asbestos that would prevent them from developing mesothelioma.

A report by the Asbestos Training and Consultancy Association has revealed that schools may not be effectively managing asbestos.

The study took a sample of 16 schools and found that none of them were fully complying with Health and Safety Executive guidelines.

The schools named in the report have all agreed to be inspected by the authorities, but the study leaves us with worrying questions about asbestos management in the rest of the UK’s schools.

Here at Irwin Mitchell we have seen a number of teachers, school staff and even pupils who have contracted mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos in schools.

Ultimately we would like to see all asbestos removed from schools, but we are realistic enough to know that this is a huge undertaking that will take time.

As a starting point we would like to see a full audit of asbestos in schools and risk assessments that would help provide a safe environment for pupils and teachers.