Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2023) Mesothelioma in Australia 2021, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 01 June 2023.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2023). Mesothelioma in Australia 2021. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Mesothelioma in Australia 2021. AIHW, 2023.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Mesothelioma in Australia 2021. Canberra: AIHW; 2023.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2023, Mesothelioma in Australia 2021, AIHW, Canberra.
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Mesothelioma in Australia 2021– infocus presents the latest available information on the incidence of mesothelioma in Australia, along with mortality, survival and asbestos exposure information, using data from the Australian Mesothelioma Registry, the National Mortality Database and the Australian Cancer Database. On average, two people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in Australia each day – with a median age at diagnosis of 77 years old.
722 mesothelioma cases were diagnosed in 2021 and reported to the AMR, with a median age at diagnosis of 77
The age-adjusted 1-year relative survival of people with mesothelioma has increased since 1989–1993
701 deaths of people with mesothelioma were recorded on the AMR for 2020 —a rate of 2.1 deaths per 100,000 population
Over 9 in 10 of the exposure assessment participants were assessed as having possible or probable exposure to asbestos
Australia has one of the highest measured incidence rates of mesothelioma in the world (Bray et al. 2017). Each year in Australia, between 700 and 800 people are diagnosed with the rare and aggressive cancer. In the 2019–20 financial year, the estimated health system expenditure for mesothelioma cases was $32.1million (total cancers $12.1 billion) (AIHW 2022a). Men were more likely to be diagnosed with mesothelioma than women across all age groups, and the number of cases diagnosed each year for both men and women has steadily increased over the past 40 years. There is no cure for mesothelioma with the main cause being from exposure to asbestos – a material that has been banned in Australia since the end of 2003. It can take many years after being exposed to asbestos (between 20 and 60 years) for mesothelioma to develop (Cancer Council 2019a). This report presents the latest available statistics from the Australian Mesothelioma Registry (AMR), supplemented by data from the National Mortality Database (NMD) and the Australian Cancer Database (ACD). Note that in this report, incidence data primarily comprises those notified cases of mesothelioma that had been received up until 1 November 2022 by the AMR, diagnosed between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021. This extraction date differs from previous reports. For further information see Mesothelioma in Australia 2021: methodology paper.
End matter: Glossary; References; Acknowledgments.
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