Asbestos Cancer Patients Offered Support

A meeting is due to be held next month marking the launch of a support group for sufferers of an asbestos-related cancer and their carers.

The group has been set up as a joint venture between Gorleston's James Paget Hospital and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH).

A spokeswoman for the NNUH said it was the first time that such a support group has been made available to both patients and relatives affected by mesothelioma and the third meeting would take place on September 15.

Dr Ian Gibson, MP for Norwich North, has launched a campaign in Norwich to get compensation for people who suffer from a scarring of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos known as pleural plaques.

Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to the deadly dust and commonly affects people involved in construction work.

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David Cass from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: "We welcome the founding of a support group for those affected by asbestos related cancer in East Anglia. This is an area of the country which has previously not benefitted from the valuable resource of a formal support group. To see the development of a group under the auspices of experienced and well informed professionals from hospitals in Norwich and Great Yarmouth is all the more encouraging. We are sure the group will provide much needed local assistance to those whose lives are affected by asbestos related cancers."