Public Hospitals in Nicaragua Replace Mercury Thermometers

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

The process began in 2010 at Hospital La Mascota, where Health Care Without Harm and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health conducted a pilot project to evaluate the uses and alternatives available to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers.

Since December 2011, the Ministry of Health has been purchasing mercury-free medical devices at a national level. Thus, Nicaragua joins the list of countries substituting the use of mercury thermometers with safer alternatives that promote public health.

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Health Care Without Harm is an international coalition of more than 500 organizations in 53 countries, working 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. Visit the HCWH website for more information.