Health Care Without Harm is an international coalition of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals, community groups, health-affected constituencies, labor unions, environmental and environmental health organizations and religious groups.

Together with our partners around the world, we share a vision of a health care sector which does no harm and is committed to preventing disease and promoting the health of people and the environment.

To that end, we are working to implement healthy and ecologically sound alternatives to health care practices which pollute and contribute to disease.

We are guided by the following mission statement and set of goals. In Europe, our activities are coordinated through three working groups, detailed below.

Mission:

To transform the health care sector worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment.

Goals:

Create markets and policies for safer products, materials and chemicals in health care. Promote safer substitutes, including products that avoid mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and brominated flame retardants.

Eliminate incineration of medical waste, minimize the amount and toxicity of all waste generated and promote safer waste treatment practices.

Transform the design, construction and operations of health care facilities to minimize environmental impacts and foster healthy, healing environments.  

Encourage food purchasing systems that support sustainable food production and distribution, and provide healthy food on-site at health care facilities.

Secure a safe and healthy workplace for all health care workers.

Ensure patients, workers and communities have full access to information about chemicals used in health care and can participate in decisions about exposures to chemicals.

Promote human rights and environmental justice for communities impacted by the health care industry, while assuring that problems are not displaced from one community or country to another.

HCWH Europe Working Groups

Waste: The Waste Work Group is working to eliminate the practice of incinerating medical waste by demonstrating that it is possible to segregate and recycle categories of waste which do not pose a risk of transmission of infection, whilst for the remaining infectious waste there are economically and environmentally preferable alternatives to waste incineration.

Safer Materials: The mission of the Safer Materials Work Group is to catalyse change in the choices the health care sector makes about which chemicals and materials to use. At the moment the workgroup is focusing on phasing PVC plastic, phthalates and mercury out of health care.

Good Practice: The Good Practice Workgroup promotes green purchasing, healthy food and environmentally sustainable practices in hospitals. By providing educational materials, technical assistance and opportunities for collaboration with healthcare professionals in health systems, professional associations, and individual healthcare facilities this workgroup facilitates the practical changes which bring about HCWHE's goals.