International: Mercury-Free Health Care � Toward the Tipping Point
Health Care Without Harm – 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

Philippines: Mercury (Phase-out) is in the Air
Health Care Without Harm SE-Asia – The summer steaming heat alternated by constant rain may just be the condition needed for mercury to vaporize. But no need to worry, mercury phase-out is in the air this World Environment Day as Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA) gains two more partners in phasing-out mercury in health care. more

Stockholm: Global Warning on Mercury
Philippine Star – Last week, the mercury soared in Stockholm, as members of the international community were locked in a burning discussion of the day’s headline-making issue: preparing a legally-binding treaty on mercury. more

International: HCWM Resolution Adopted at 63rd World Health Assembly
WHA – The resolution urges member states to assess the health aspects of waste management in order to make it safe and environmentally sound and to explore options to work more closely with the United Nations Environment Programme, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and the WHO Secretariat towards achieving their shared objectives on the improvement of health through safe and environmentally sound waste management. more

South Africs: HIV Test Kits Dumped Near School
IOL – The Western Cape Department of Health is investigating how medical waste came to be dumped metres away from a primary school. Residents of Bloekombos found heaps of what looked like HIV tests lying next to Wallacedene Primary School.  more

Manila: Watsons, Collins Back Phase-out of Mercury
Standard Today –Two multinational companies are lending support to the campaign to stop the use of mercury in all Philippine health care facilities and institutions. Three months before the ultimatum on the mercury phase-out in the Philippines, CITC and Watsons have teamed-up with HCWH-SEA in a renewed campaign to junk mercury devices. more

India: Guilty Verdicts in Bhopal Court Case
BBC – A court in the Indian city of Bhopal has convicted eight people in connection with the gas plant leak that killed thousands of people more than 25 years ago. The eight face a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison for causing "death by negligence". The Union Carbide plant leak was the worst industrial disaster in history. more

International: UN Conference on Mercury (INC1)
People Daily – The first session of the UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to prepare a global legally binding instrument on Mercury (INC1) opened in Uppland near Stockholm on Monday. more

US: Increased Heat Waves from Climate Change a Public Health Disaster, Federal Official Said
Oregon Live – Global climate change will bring more heat waves, air pollution and floods, and public health systems need to prepare for those changes now, federal officials told a group of epidemiologists.  more

Nigeria: E-Waste, Children Die From Lead Poisoning
Ghana Business News – 163 people died from lead poisoning in Nigeria after locals started digging for gold in areas high in concentrations of lead. Ghana has been identified as a dumping ground for electronics waste or e-waste from the UK, the USA and other European countries. Evidence uncovered by both local and international media including organizations like the Greenpeace shows that the West�s e-waste is being dumped in Ghana. more

Kenya: Experts Meet to Seek Ways of Managing E-waste in Kenya
Business Daily – A two-day meeting aimed at coming up with better ways of managing electronic waste, barely two months after Information permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo’s push for ban on import of used computers in next financial budget, set for this week.  more

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