Philippines: Envi Groups Laud DoH Scrapping of Incinerator Plan
Health Care Without Harm SEAsia – “Bid incineration goodbye once and for all.” This was the call of Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA), Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Greenpeace and Ecowaste Coalition in a round table discussion with the Department of Health (DoH) where the later announced the scrapping of planned revival of incinerators. more

Indonesia: Hospitals Put Public Health at Risk With Lax Handling of Biomedical Waste
Jakarta Globe – Indonesian hospitals' questionable waste management methods could give rise to epidemics of infectious diseases and the widespread contamination of rivers, an official said. Imam Hendargo, the Environment Ministry’s deputy for hazardous substances and waste, said there were regulations in place on how hospital waste should be disposed of, but not all facilities abided by these rules, usually due to negligence or a lack of resources.
Faye Ferrer, from Health Care Without Harm SE-Asia, agreed that hospitals needed to move away from incinerators. more

Uganda: Gulu Hospital Chokes on Garbage and MedWaste
The New Vision – Patients at Gulu Hospital are bitter about the smell from the heap of garbage located near the Out Patients Department. They said efforts to make the hospital administrators remove the garbage and medical waste had failed. more

South Africa: CANSA Labels BPA-free Baby Bottles
Times Live – The Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) has started endorsing plastic baby bottles as free of cancer-causing chemicals, after its research found that many bottles in South Africa were unsafe. more

Sweden: Studies BPA Ban After EFSA's Delayed Safety Opinion
Foodproductiondaily.com – Sweden is the latest EU country to consider banning the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) with government scientists due to meet next week to consider the feasibility of introducing a ban next year. The Swedish government has told the Swedish National Food Administration and the Swedish Chemicals Agency to jointly evaluate the merits and feasibility of introducing a national BPA ban in some plastic products. Special emphasis is to be placed on gauging the risks, if any, BPA poses to children. more

Canada: Canadian Health Measures Survey: Lead, Bisphenol A and Mercury
Northumberlandview – New data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) show that blood lead concentrations in the Canadian population have fallen dramatically since they were last measured 30 years ago. Furthermore, 91% of Canadians aged 6 to 79 had detectable concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) in their urine and 88% had detectable concentrations of total mercury in their blood. The CHMS analyzed blood and urine samples for indicators of more than 80 environmental contaminants and chemical substances, most of which were measured for the first time in a representative sample of Canadians. more

India: Money Destined to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change
Times of India – A provision of Rs. 25,000 has been made to mitigate the effects of climate change. About 220 scientists from 120 research institutions were working on assessing the impact of climate change on agriculture, water, health and forests. more

Philippine: Framework for Coping with Climate Change, Includes Impacts on Health
MB News – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has turned over to the Climate Change Commission its report on the country's adaptation strategies that serves as its major input to the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change. The publication assesses the country's vulnerability and adaptive capacity as well as the potential positive and negative impacts of climate change on key sectors that include water, biodiversity, forestry, coastal and marine, fisheries, agriculture, health, energy and infrastructure. more

Nigeria: Nigeria as Dumping Ground for E-waste
Financial Standard News – Recently, Dr. Ngeri Benebo, Director General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency raised alarm over the health and environmental hazards posed by indiscriminate importation of used electrical/electronics by unscrupulous businessmen into the country. Benebo identified lack of legislation, weak global and regional response as well as absence of infrastructure for recycling as some of the challenges militating against e-waste control in Nigeria. more

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