Background Poland was one of the countries where asbestos was widely used for many years. It is estimated that from1952 to 1997, 1.75 million tonnes of raw asbestos were used in the manufacture of asbestos-containing products and in industrial installations. Some 90% of that quantity was chrysotile, imported mainly from the USSR, the remaining 10% was crocidolite and amosite imported from Africa. The largest share of asbestos (some 65%, mostly chrysotile) was used for asbestos-cement products assigned for the construction industry (such as flat and corrugated roofing sheets and wall linings). According to estimates, some 1.2 billion m2 of these products still exist. Crocidolite was used mostly for the manufacture of pressure pipes, one of more than 1 500 asbestos-containing products. According to the Occupational Diseases’ Register kept by Nofer Occupational Medicine Institute in Łódź, during the period 1976-2002, 1 883 cases of asbestosis, 288 cases of lung cancer and 114 cases of mesothelioma were recorded. Polish legal provisions on the use and handling of asbestos products include four acts and 12 executive regulations. In 1997 a ban was imposed on the use of products containing asbestos resulting in the end of manufacture and use of such materials. However, the problem of how to remove old asbestos products in a way that is not harmful to human health or the environment remains. In 2002, Poland launched a national programme for the removal of asbestos and asbestos-containing products. While this has gone some way to solving the problem, further action is still needed. Objectives The ‘Kampania anty-azbestowa’ project aims to: Strengthen institutional and individual awareness about the harmfulness of asbestos and its negative impact on health; Increase the involvement of institutions and citizens in solving the problem of asbestos removal in Poland; Promote good practices related to the removal of asbestos from the environment; Promote and support the implementation of the national “Programme of Cleaning the Country of Asbestos for 2009-2032”; Support state administration (communal self-governments) in completing public tasks related to limiting asbestos in the environment and its negative impact on health; and Control the process of programme implementation by monitoring local (communal) programmes for the removal of asbestos.Expected results: Monitoring of the implementation of programmes for the removal of asbestos in all communities in Poland – 2 489 offices for the whole project period; Publication of three (annual) monitoring reports, to be sent to 2 479 community offices; Implementation of local (communal) programmes for the removal of asbestos in 90% of communities in Poland (today the figure is only 40%); Preferential loans for enterprises related to the removal of asbestos offered by two branches of the bank Ochrony Środowiska; Creation and implementation of a pilot scheme for financing the tasks related to the removal of asbestos through funds supplying at least 1.2 million citizens who use products containing asbestos with educational kits about the harmfulness of asbestos and the necessity of its removal; Organisation of 96 seminars attended by at least 2 500 representatives of the main target groups of the project; and At least 108 consultations to be organised by the beneficiary.