Health Care Without Harm News

Video | Bir Hospital Transforms its Healthcare Waste Management

Since 2010, Health Care Foundation Nepal (HECAF) and Health Care Without Harm, supported by the World Health Organisation, have been working with the leadership and staff of Bir Hospital to transform their healthcare waste management. more 

World's Governments Agree to Mercury-Free Healthcare in 2020

The world’s governments have finalized text for a global legally binding treaty on mercury, the bio-accumulative heavy metal that is poisoning the world’s fish supply, threatening public health and the environment. Among other measures, the treaty text mandates an end to the manufacture, import and export of mercury thermometers and blood pressure devices (sphygmomanometers) by 2020. more 

HCWH Video Report from Mercury Treaty Negotiations

HCWH International Coordinator, Josh Karliner reports from the final round of mercury treaty negotiations in Geneva. more 

Mexico: Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Builds Momentum

On 27th November, GGHH Founding Members, the National Institute of Pediatrics, the Mexican Network of Pediatric Hospitals, together with HCWH partner organization the Center for Analysis and Action on Toxics and Alternatives organized the first Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Meeting in the country. Representatives from more than 12 different national hospitals along with the Mexico City Ministry of Health participated in this event. more 

DOHA Declaration on Climate, Health and Wellbeing

Building upon last year's successful climate and health summit an informal alliance of health organizations around the world - including Health Care Without Harm, World Medical Association, the International Council of Nurses, International Federation of Medical Students Climate and Health Alliance and others - has prepared a statement aimed at climate negotiators currently meeting in Doha. more 

HCWH Founder, Gary Cohen Joins Former Vice-president and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, to Discuss Climate Change and Health

Join us on November 14 for 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report. Broadcast live on the Internet. more 

Join HCWH and Participate of a Global Web Based Event on Climate Change and Health

Join us on November 14 for 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report. Broadcast live on the Internet, it's an event that anyone can attend. HCWH will bring together key health sector actors from around the world to discuss the impacts of climate change on public health and solutions that promote greater health. more 

HCWH Receives Gates Grand Challenge Grant

HCWH Science and Policy Coordinator, Ruth Stringer, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled “Assessing environmental impacts of different small scale technologies for the disinfection of immunization waste” more 

Mercury Treaty and Medical Devices

As regional meetings begin in preparation for the final negotiating session of the global mercury treaty in January, HCWH has produced a fact sheet that makes the case for a treaty that mandates a rapid global phase-out of mercury thermometers and blood pressure devices. more 

Public Hospitals Replace Mercury Thermometers

The 29 hospitals that comprise Managua's public health system have successfully started replacing their mercury thermometers with digital alternatives. more 

EU to Phase-out Mercury Blood Pressure Devices

Health Care Without Harm(HCWH), the European Environment Bureau (EEB) and the Zero Mercury Working Group today applauded the EU’s decision to take off the market mercury sphygmomanometers and other measuring devices for industrial and professional use starting April 2014. more 

HCWH Weighs in at UN Chemicals Forum

Joining a UN gathering addressing chemical safety issues, HCWH released a report on a series of activities that promote the substitution of chemicals with safer alternatives in the health care sector. more 

Brazilian Hospitals and Health Systems Launch GGHH

Seventeen leading hospitals, together with four major health systems representing eighty-two more, joined forces to launch Global Green and Healthy Hospitals in Brazil this past week. more 

Chinese Hospital Association Architecture Branch Joins Global Green and Healthy Hospitals

The Chinese Hospital Association, a national,trade-oriented, non-profit healthcare organization, represents more than 1700 hospital and academic members, 7000 individual members and 22 branches. more 

Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Launch in Australia a Great Success

Together with the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA), the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA), and Health Care Without Harm launched GGHH and its Agenda for greening the healthcare sector in Sydney, Australia. more 

Bayalpata Hospital Becoming a Green Hospital

Nyaya Health has made a commitment to working towards a “green and healthy hospital.” By becoming HCWH members, they have made a promise to promote public health by continuously reducing their environmental impact and ultimately eliminating our contribution to the burden of disease. more 

RIO+20 Greening the Health Sector Event

In an event co-organized by the International NGO Health Care Without Harm, the WHO and the Sustainable Development Unit of England's National Health Service, and sponsored by the United States Department of State, four panelists discussed how the health sector can play a leading role in promoting sustainability by reducing its environmental footprint, thereby also promoting public health. more 

Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Network in Australia

HCWH, the Climate and Health and Alliance and Australian Hospitals and Healthcare Association are co-hosting a Policy Think Tank as part of AHHA's regular schedule of events - this time it's a 'Greening the Health Sector' forum. more 

Mercury Treaty Risks Failure; Clock Ticking

With the lack of agreement on many major issues, the INC Mercury treaty process is at risk of failing to achieve a global accord that will protect public and environmental health from mercury pollution. more 

Known Negative Impacts of Dental Mercury Surpass Those of Alternatives

The Research Collaborative, of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, the Healthier Hospitals Initiative and Health Care Without Harm released the study today, “Mercury in Dental Amalgam and Resin-Based Alternatives: A Comparative Health Risk Evaluation,” which compared the health and environmental impacts of mercury dental amalgam with those of the alternatives currently available in the United States. more 

Greening the Health Sector: Rio+20 Event

Hospitals and Healthy Systems can contribute substantially to a green economy through improved energy and environmental performance. more 

Asia: Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Network Launched

Hospitals, health systems and health organizations representing the interests of more than 2,500 hospitals from six continents today launched the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Network (GGHHN), an international initiative to reduce the health sector’s ecological footprint and promote public environmental health. more 

Open letter to world leaders calls for an end of the threat of nuclear power

Just days before Japan marks the anniversary of March 11, 2011 tsunami and the nuclear disaster that followed, leaders from more than 50 organisations and prominent individuals from all around the world today released an open letter to world leaders calling for investments in safe, renewable energy in order to end to the threat of nuclear power and put protecting people ahead of protecting the nuclear industry. more 

The Greening of Medicine

The Britain’s prestigious Medical Journal discusses the depth of the climate crisis and how it has finally forced the spotlight of mainstream environmental scrutiny on medicine, quickly diagnosing the need to dramatically cut healthcare’s unhealthy carbon footprint. Globally, the greening of medicine is also scaling the policy agenda. It mentions the Climate and Health Summit and discusses efforts by the NHS, HCWH and others to reduce healthcare's climate footprint. more 

Regional Meeting Moves Medical Waste Management Forward in Asia

Health Care Without Harm and strategic partners HealthCare Foundation Nepal (HECAF) and Toxics Link (India) participated in a three-day healthcare waste management workshop convened by the WHO Regional Office for South East Asia in December 2011. Participants also included government representatives from eleven countries. more 

In Memorium, Yves Chartier

We are deeply saddened to report to you that our friend and colleague Yves Chartier died in a tragic accident in the Jura mountains while snowshoeing with his family outside of Geneva this past Sunday January 8. more 

Health leaders call for urgent action on climate

International health leaders in Durban for the global climate talks have called on negotiators to push for the most ambitious commitments possible, warning that the direction of current negotiations risks the lives of billions of people around the globe. more 

HCWH Intervention at Mercury Treaty Negotiations

HCWH, represented by partner organizations from Mexico, India, Indonesia, South Africa and the United States, is participating in round three of the mercury treaty negotiations, currently underway in Nairobi, Kenya. more 

New Training Video on Mercury Waste in Hospitals

HCWH has released a video meant to be part of training program for hospitals around the world aiming to eliminate mercury and safely manage and store mercury waste while governments search for a more permanent solution. more 

South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs calls for mercury medical device ban

South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs is recommending that the country’s Ministry of Health issue a directive to all provincial governments immediately suspending the purchase of mercury-based thermometers, blood pressure devices and dental amalgam. more 

HCWH Launches Global Environmental Health Agenda for Hospitals

Health Care Without Harm today launched a new initiative designed to foster greater ecological sustainability and environmental health in the health care sector around the world. more 

HCWH Position on Mercury Treaty Draft Text

With the mercury treaty going into its third round of negotiations next month and regional meetings taking place right now, we are moving closer to a global phase-out of mercury-based medical devices. more 

UN Human Rights Report Calls for An End to Medical Waste Incineration

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) today praised an official report by a Special Rapporteur to the United Nations Human Rights Council that calls for an end to the incineration of medical waste in order to protect human health and the environment. more 

Climate & Health Summit Registration Now Open!

Health Care Without Harm, the World Federation of Public Health Associations, the Climate and Health Council and the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of Kwa Zulu Natal are organizing the first Global Climate and Health Summit. Registration is now open! more 

Global Climate & Health Summit, Durban Dec 4, Save the Date

The first Global Climate and Health Summit, takes place parallel to the COP 17 climate negotiations. It aims to bring together key health sector actors to discuss the impacts of climate change on public health and solutions that promote greater health, as well as economic equity between and within nations. more 

Breastfeeding Best for Health of Babies, Mothers; Reduces Costs, Saves Environment

HCWH is marking World Breastfeeding Week with the message that breastfeeding is a critically important step to ensure the health of infants, and is the best course of action for new mothers worldwide. more 

Denpasar Pioneering Mercury-Free Health Care Sector

HCWH and our Indonesia partner BaliFokus recently partnered to promote mercury-free health care through the planned phase-out of mercury containing medical devices in seven hospitals Denpasar City, Indonesia. more 

HCWH at UN: Pollution Prevention = Disease Prevention

HCWH participated in a hearing at United Nations headquarters in preparation for a High-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on the prevention and control of Non-communicable Diseases that will be convened by the Secretary General in September. more 

New Study Analyzes Handling and Disposal of Mercury Containing Equipment in Educational and Health Facilities

HCWH partner organization, AGENDA, based in Tanzania, carried out a baseline survey on mercury use in healthcare facilities and schools. more 

Phase-out of Mercury Medical Devices

HCWH Partner Global Village of Beijing and Changchun Children's Hospital jointly launched a campaign to phase out mercury-containing medical devices in the hospital. more 

HCWH Message on World Environment Day

We can't have healthy people if our planet is sick. We are working towards healthy environments for all. Watch video! more 

WHO Releases Technical Guidance on Substituting Mercury Thermometers and Sphygmomanometers

WHO has issued a Technical Guidance Document for the safe substitution of non-mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers in health-care settings. more 

Mercury Elimination Guides for Hospitals

In order to scale-up the replacement of mercury–based medical devices around the world, HCWH has put together a guide that systematizes the basic steps in mercury substitution. more 

On International Nurses Day Health Care Without Harm Salutes Nurses Around the World

International Nurses Day is an opportunity to learn about the work of nurses and their contribution to improving environmental health. This year, Health Care Without Harm is proud to celebrate the fantastic work that nurses are doing around the globe. more 

Health Organizations and Professionals Call for Total Mercury Thermometer Ban

Led by HCWH major health organizations and leading hospitals, medical and nursing schools, called on the Minister of Health to extend the phase-out of mercury in health care. more 

Manila 2011 Declaration for Mercury Free Health Care

On March 15, in Manila, Philippines, HCWH, WHO and the UNDP GEF Global Health Care Waste Project co-organized a regional event to support the development of mercury-free health care in Asia. more 

Asia Regional Conference on Mercury-Free Health Care

Officials from Ministries of Health and Environment, hospital managers and representatives of national health care professional associations from ten Asian countries are gathering this week in Manila to discuss substituting mercury-based medical devices with safe, accurate, affordable alternatives throughout the region. more 

Fernández Hospital, Going Green

HCWH member Hospital Fernandez, a 425 bed public hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has taken several steps to green its operations, becoming a model for other health care facilities in the Latin America region. more 

Many Issues Impacting Public’s Health Still to be Resolved in Mercury Treaty Talks

Delegates from more than 120 countries discussed actions to address sources of mercury pollution as they worked this week to negotiate a binding global mercury treaty. However, many issues must still be resolved before a comprehensive agreement protecting public health and truly honoring the proposal to name the treaty, the Minamata Convention, is assured. more 

Seminar on “Medical Waste Management in Bangladesh”

Health Care Without Harm, the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) and Family Health International (FHI) organised a seminar entitled “Medical Waste Management in Bangladesh” at ICDDR,B;s Sasakawa auditorium in Dhaka to raise awareness about proper medical waste management. more 

Addressing the Problem of Dental Mercury

In the last quarter of 2010 HCWH, together with Argentina’s Ministry of Health, the Panamerican Health Organization and the UNDP-GEF Health Care Waste Project, held a "reflection and information exchange session", on addressing the problem of mercury pollution in the health sector stemming from the use of dental amalgam. more 

Update on the Activities of the WHO-HCWH Global Mercury-free Healthcare Initiative for INC2

For the second round of negotiations on a global legally binding instrument on Mercury (INC2), HCWH and WHO have released an update which chronicles the significant advances toward mercury–free health care around the world achieved since the negotiations began six months ago. more 

HCWH Participates in Events on Sustainable Healthcare Waste Management and Mercury-free Health Care

In January, HCWH and members took part in a number of events on sustainable healthcare waste management and mercury-free health care. more 

Asia Regional Conference on Mercury-free Health Care

The conference will be held in Manila, Philippines, March 15-16, 2011. It is being co-organized by HCWH, WHO and the UNDP GEF Global Healthcare Waste Project. Participants from ministries of health, health care institutions and health professionals are invited to attend. more 

HCWH and Partners’ Joint Letter for Negotiators in Cancun

Health Care Without Harm, Health and Environment Alliance and Climate and Health Council, together with some of the world’s largest medical, nursing and health organizations are calling on world leaders to take bold action to address climate change. They stress that failure to do so will result in widespread suffering and death.  more 

Health Day at COP16 - Health Professionals Say: Don't Forget the Health Dividend

The "Cancun Climate and Health Statement" launched during Health Day at COP 16, calls on negotiators to consider the "real costs" of climate change and the benefits of strong action by taking the human health dimension into account. more 

Cancun Statement: Climate Change and Health, The Time to Act is Now

Leaders from different organizations presented a Declaration Statement on Climate and Health, asking negotiatiors at COP16 to take into account the significant human health dimensions of the climate crisis along with the health benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. more 

The Safe Injection Global Network (SIGN) Alliance Annual Meeting 2010

HCWH and Health Care Foundation Nepal have presented the results of their latest collaboration on sustainable healthcare waste management with Bir Hospital in Kathmandu. more 

In Memory of Nomcebo (MaMbili) Mvelase

Nomcebo led HCWH’s South Africa Partner groundWork’s efforts to promote sustainable health care waste management. She was also named a Nurse Luminary by HCWH’s Luminary Project. A mother, wife, daughter, friend to many she sadly passed away on Friday, the 8th of October after a fatal stabbing in the Pietermaritzburg city centre, near Durban, South Africa. We will all miss her dearly. more 

Successful Implementation of Medical Waste Treatment in Tanzania

Health Care Without Harm and partners today released a report showing how steam-based disinfection was used in an Tanzanian hospital to treat medical waste rather than incinerating it. more 

Mercury-Free Health Care – Toward the Tipping Point

As the world’s governments begin negotiations to forge a mercury treaty, WHO and HCWH have issued a two-year progress report on the global Mercury-Free Health Care Initiative. more 

Civil Society Health Sector Platform for INC 1

The International Council of Nurses, the World Federation of Publich Health Associations, the International Society of Doctors for the Environment and Health Care Without Harm, issued a statement calling urging delegates to the upcoming mercury treaty talks to negotiate an accord that protects public health and the environment. more 

Nepal: Latest Initiatives on Medical Waste and Mercury

Health Care Without Harm members, the Health Care Foundation Nepal (HECAF) and Center For Public Health And Environmental Development (CEPHED) are teaming up the second week of March 2010 to deliver a training on medical waste management for district health officials and nurses. more 

Major Strides For Mercury-Free Health Care

Argentina and the Philippines, the two countries leading the developing world in substituting mercury-based medical devices with safe, accurate and affordable alternatives, took significant steps to implement and strengthen their national mercury-free health care policies. more 

Post-Copenhagen Position Statement

The UN negotiations did not deliver the legally binding agreement needed for reducing emissions to protect the climate and people’s health. Rather, world leaders managed to come up with a “letter of intent”, a non-binding declaration without clear commitments from any government.  more 

Tackling Twin Threats: Climate Change and the Global Health Gap

Student and professional health leaders from different organizations (HEAL, Medsin-UK, Climate and Health Council, HCWH, International Federation of Medical Students' Associations) offered a Prescription for a Healthy Planet — emphasizing the twinned opportunity decision-makers have to tackle climate change, and to narrow the global health gap between rich and poor. more 

International Technical Collaboration to Help Nepal's Hospitals

Health Care Foundation Nepal (HECAF) welcomes new impetus to their campaign as a result of the current visit by a technical expert from Health Care Without Harm, the global campaign for environmentally friendly health care. more 

Health Leaders Call for Strong Measures on Climate Change

Some of the world's largest medical, nursing and public health organisations are calling on world leaders to take bold action to address climate change to avert what could become a global public health crisis. more 

Health Sector Can Lead the Fight Against Climate Change

A discussion paper by the World Health Organization (WHO) and HCWH says the health sector can play a leadership role in reducing the magnitude and consequences of global warming by reducing its climate footprint. more 

Proyecto Luminarias Launched

Latin America — Health Care Without Harm and the Luminary Project recently launched Proyecto Luminarias (www.proyectoluminarias.org), highlighting the stories of nurses who are addressing environmental concerns in health care in Latin America. more 

Argentina Phases Out Mercury-Containing Medical Devices

The Minister of Health, Graciela Ocaña signed Resolution 139/2009, instructing all hospitals and health care centers in the country to purchase mercury-free thermometers and sphygmomanometers. more 

Dannon Latest to Yield to Health Industry Demands

Dannon has announced to Health Care Without Harm that it will stop using milk from cattle injected with the growth hormone rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) to make its yogurt products by the end of 2009. Dannon responded less than two weeks after competitor Yoplait announced its own plans to eliminate rBGH from its product line. Both companies announced their plans after a number of major health facilities announced their intentions to provide only dairy products produced without rBGH to their patients, staff and visitors. more 

Hospitals and Healthcare Leaders Shift Dairy Market

In their drive to serve safer, more sustainable foods, major health systems across the country are switching to rBGH-free (also called rBST) milk and milk products, due to the evidence showing the hormone's adverse effects on animals and potential to harm human health. more 

Revised Green Guide for Health Care Operations Section Released

"The expanded scope and revised organization around departmental work will appeal to operational facilities eager to establish their leadership in environmental excellence," said Janet Brown, director of Sustainable Operations at Practice Greenhealth. more 

HCWH Lauds Catholic Healthcare West for Rejecting Genetically Engineered and Cloned Foods

The nation's leading Catholic hospital system took the position in recognition of the serious health, environmental and ethical concerns raised by these untested technologies. The decision of CHW to include GE sugar beets in its new food policy has significance for the entire health care food market and perhaps, the entire sugar beet industry. more 

HCWH and WHO Launch a Global Partnership to Substitute Mercury-Based Medical Devices

"This initiative aims to replace no less than 70 percent of all mercury thermometers and blood pressure devices around the world with digital and aneroid alternatives within the decade" said Alexander von Hildebrand, Regional Adviser for Chemical Safety for WHO's South East Asia Regional Office. "It is our goal to significantly reduce the threat posed by mercury spills to patient and worker health, as well as the global environment." more 

Pilot Project Launched in Tanzania on Non-Incineration Medical Waste Treatment

A project to replace Bagamoyo District Hospital's reliance on an ailing incinerator with a safer, non-burn waste treatment system received high praise today from hospital staff and administration and the district's Executive Director. more