Recently, the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the Societies of Epidemiology (SE), a consortium of national and international epidemiologic societies and organizations, released a statement calling for the global ban of asbestos use (JPC-SE 2012). This is not the first such call for an international ban (Collegium Ramazzini 2010), but it is a significant one because it is endorsed by 10 member organizations of the JPC-SE, numerous major epidemiologic and public health associations, and many epidemiologists (JPC-SE 2012).

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs, e.g., cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, neurological diseases) have been the commonest cause of death and disability globally for at least the last three decades. Even in sub-Saharan Africa, NCDs contribute a third of the disability-adjusted life year burden. However, research resources allocated to NCDs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are trivial.