History and Victories

• How HCWH Began
• Success Stories

How HCWH Began

Health Care Without Harm began in 1996 after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identified medical waste incineration as the leading source of dioxin, one of the most potent carcinogens.

In response to this serious problem, 28 organizations came together in Bolinas, California to form the coalition Health Care Without Harm (HCWH). Since then, HCWH has grown into a broad-based international coalition of hundreds of organizations in 52 countries, with offices in Arlington, VA, Brussels, Buenos Aires and Manila.

For more information, please contact us.

Success Stories

In just over one decade, Health Care Without Harm has had a significant impact on major health systems, health care workers, medical device manufacturers, group purchasing organizations and government regulators. Our successes include:

• Virtually eliminating the market for mercury-based medical equipment in the United States, banning mercury thermometers in the European Union, and securing national policies to phase out mercury-based medical devices in the Philippines and Argentina, while working with thousands of hospitals across Latin America, Asia and Africa to switch to safer alternatives.
• Closing thousands of medical waste incinerators and promoting safer technologies and waste management practices around the world.
• Creating new markets for safe and healthy products by leveraging the massive purchasing power of the health care sector.
• Initiating a Green Building program specifically geared to hospitals.
• Developing a Healthy Food project that is changing the way hospitals purchase food to support sustainable agricultural practices.
• Creating new programs to reduce the climate footprint of the health care sector.