Philippines: Envi-health Group Urges Presidential Frontrunner to Stick to Promise
Health Care Without Harm SE-Asia – Environmental health group Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia call on presidential frontrunner Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to put mercury phase-out and other environmental health issues a priority agenda in his 1st 100 days in office. more

Latin America: Health at Risk as Consequence of Climate Change
Salud Sin Daño - Verónica Odriozola, Regional Coordinator of Salud Sin Daño Latin America, discusses how climate change will lead to a series of significant health impacts and how the health sector and healthcare providers should be on the front lines, confronting and adapting to this changing landscape.  more

India: Central Government Issues Guidelines For Government-run Hospitals to Phase-out Mercury
Mercury Free Health Care - The Directorate General of Health Services of India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has advised all Central Government Hospitals and Health Centers "to gradually phase out mercury containing equipments (thermometer, BP Instruments etc.) and replace them with good quality non mercury equipments." These guidelines affect approximately 1669 hospitals and 174,000 subcentres and primary health centres.  more

India: Guidelines on Bio-medical Waste Disposal Needed
The Hindu – The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has urged the States of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to pool in their resources to draft bio-medical waste disposal guidelines. According to the body, Delhi and the National Capital Region collectively generate over 3,400 tonnes of medical waste annually, most of which remain untreated and dumped with municipal waste causing a serious health and environment hazard. more

India: Government Out to Clean Up Hospital Wasteland
Indian Express – The Delhi government will announce new, stricter guidelines for disposal of bio-medical waste by hospitals. The decision came after the recent incident of radioactive waste ending up in Mayapuri scrap market that claimed a life, and a recent Central Pollution Control Board study that found half the bio-medical, infectious waste generated by hospitals end up in municipal garbage.   more

Mexico & US: Flame Retardants Impact Fertility, Children's IQ, New Studies Suggest
The New Mexico Independent – Two new studies published in the public health journal Environmental Health Perspectives suggest PBDEs may impair women's fertility and disrupt children's cognitive development. more

Japan: Prime Minister Apologizes to Mercury Poisoning Victims
Australia Network News –Japan's prime minister Yukio Hatoyama has apologised to victims of one of the country's worst industrial pollution disasters 50 years ago in which people were poisoned with mercury. more

Kenya: Tool to Predict Malaria Outbreaks
Reuters – Kenyan doctors have developed a new model to accurately predict malaria outbreaks in an effort to adapt to climate change. The project was funded by the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa program , International Development Research Centre and Britain's Department for International Development.  more

Mediterranean Region: Climate Change Threatens Health by Mediterranean
Reuters – According to scientists in Switzerland and the United States writing in the journal Nature Geoscience about health and heat projections, heat-related health problems would be felt most by people living near the coast or in low-lying river valleys around the Mediterranean.  more

China: E-waste Processing Poisons Health, Environment
IPS News – Environment-minded healthcare architects and hospital designers have been enthusiastically waiting for and helping in the development of a sustainable-construction rating system aimed specifically at healthcare facilities. But now they're nervous that the final product will be something far less comprehensive than they had hoped for and may even signal a step backward.  more

UK: Trafigura Faces �105m Legal Bill Over Dumping of Toxic Waste
The Independent Online – One of the world's biggest oil-trading companies is facing a record legal bill of more than �100m over the dumping of toxic waste in Ivory Coast.  more

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