The story of the Sambhavna Clinic, a non-profit holistic health clinic in Bhopal, India, built to treat those injured by the Union Carbide toxic gas release in 1984. enlarge video
WMA Statement on Environmental Degradation and Sound Management of Chemicals
The WMA's Statement focuses on one important aspect of environmental degradation, which is environmental contamination by harmful domestic and industrial substances.
It emphasizes the harmful chemical contribution to environmental degradation and physicians’ role in promoting sound management of chemicals as part of sustainable development, especially in the healthcare environment.
Most chemicals to which humans are exposed come from industrial sources and include, food additives, household consumer and cosmetic products, agrochemicals, and other substances (drugs; dietary supplements) used for therapeutic purposes. Recently, attention has been concentrated on the effects of human engineered (or synthetic) chemicals on the environment, including specific industrial or agrochemicals and on new patterns of distribution of natural substances due to human activity. As the number of such compounds has multiplied, governments and international organizations have begun to develop a more comprehensive approach to their safe regulation.
While governments have the primary responsibility for establishing a framework to protect the public’s health from chemical hazards, the World Medical Association, on behalf of its members, emphasizes the need to highlight the human health risks and make recommendations for further action.
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