AAP
A new mandatory mesothelioma registry will more accurately detail information about disease sufferers, whose numbers have been under-reported, Deputy Prime Minister Gillard says.
Ms Gillard launched the Australian Mesothelioma Registry on Friday, saying it was a big advance on the voluntary system previously in place.
The registry will collect detailed information about sufferers, such as when and where the disease may have been contracted.
It will then be used by experts to track asbestos exposure, so authorities can deal with future
risks.
"We ... want to make sure that as mesothelioma cases come to light from past exposure, we know where that past exposure was, so that any remaining risks can be dealt with," Ms Gillard told the launch, held at the Bernie Banton Centre at Sydney's Concord Hospital.
"Part of making sure we can fight this disease is having the best possible information about who has it, and what exposure they had which caused the disease.
"It will work with our agencies around the country that deal with cancer, so we can bring together, in the one place, the best possible information."
Ms Gillard said the voluntary system had under-reported the prevalence of mesothelioma.
With scientists predicting an increase in sufferers - Australia was once the highest per capita consumer of asbestos in the world - she said the new registry would help keep tabs on the disease.
"Unfortunately the projections show that we are expecting increasing disease diagnosis rates over the next four to five years," she said.
"Mesothelioma is a cruel and unpredictable disease. It is also a disease with a long latency period for some individuals. That is that they can get mesothelioma having been exposed to asbestos 15, 20, 25 years before.
"Consequently we are still seeing people being diagnosed from asbestos exposure quite a long time in the past."
The registry will be managed by a consortium led by the Cancer Institute of NSW.

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