Tens of thousands die from asbestos-riddled schools, hospitals and social housing. It's the next big scandal, reveals CHARLES PICKLES, and a sordid tale of government cover-up that means we're STILL all breathing in deadly fibres

Tens of thousands die from asbestos-riddled schools, hospitals and social housing. It's the next big scandal, reveals CHARLES PICKLES, and a sordid tale of government cover-up that means we're STILL all breathing in deadly fibres By Charles Pickles Published: 21:32 EDT, 1 July 2024 | Updated: 21:35 EDT, 1 July 2024 e-mail View comments Helen Bone is a 42-year-old mother of three young daughters. Three years ago, she was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer caused only by exposure to asbestos.

As a nurse, Helen has spent her life in hospitals — all containing asbestos, perhaps in ceilings, walls, floors, pipework, just about anywhere. As a schoolgirl she, like millions of us, would have been in buildings where asbestos was also present. Mesothelioma (and other asbestos-related illnesses) was once viewed as the 'old working man's disease' — only contracted by builders, miners and ship workers.



This is no longer the case. We're now seeing the premature deaths of doctors, nurses and teachers who have worked in public buildings containing asbestos, and of thousands of other Britons who were exposed to it as school children. Helen is typical of this new category of patient.

Nurse Helen Bone, 42, with daughters Livvy, 16, left, and Maddy, 13 'I don't know how long I will live,' she says. 'But I do know this will be the thing that kills me.' The average life expectancy for someone diagnosed with mesothelioma is between four and 18 months.

But in spite of her tragic .