Philippines: Hospitals Oppose Incineration
HCWH – Hospitals unfurled a black banner expressing their strongest opposition to the planned return of incineration in the country. These hospitals from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao hang a black banner calling no to the revival of incineration of hospital wastes after several government officials said that incineration is the key to addressing the country's waste problem. "As doctors, we want to provide quality and healthy life to our patients. Reviving incineration is a complete contrast to this," said Dr. Manuel Chua Chiaco Jr., Medical Director of the Philippine Heart Center.  more

Pakistan: Improper Disposal of Hospital Waste
Dawn – Inappropriate disposal of waste at the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital is posing grave threat to patients, their attendants and the environment. A visit to the hospital disclosed that hazardous material like disposable syringes, bags of intravenous fluid and many other used appliances were found scattered in the hospital premises.  more

Global: WHO-HCWH Mercury-Free Update for INC3
HCWH – WHO and HCWH have produced an update on the Global Mercury-Free Healthcare Initiative that charts progress toward the goal of virtual elimination and substitution of mercury thermometers and blood pressure devices around the world by 2017.  more

China: Pollutants Linked to 450% Increase in Risk of Birth Defects in Rural Areas
Science Daily – Pesticides and pollutants are related to a 450 percent increase in the risk of spina bifida and anencephaly in rural China, according to scientists at The University of Texas at Austin and Peking University. Two of the pesticides found in high concentrations in the placentas of affected newborns and stillborn fetuses were endosulfan and lindane.  more

UK: 'Living' Buildings Could Inhale City Carbon Emissions
CNN – According to Dr Rachel Armstrong, senior TED fellow and co-director of Avatar, a research group exploring the potential of advanced technologies in architecture, "Over the next 40 years, 'living' buildings -- biologically programmed to extract carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere - could fill our cities."  more

Global: One Third of Humanity Faces Biggest Risks From Climate C hange
Telegraph UK – Bangladesh, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are among 30 countries with extreme exposure to climate shift, according to a ranking of 193 nations by Maplecroft, a British firm specialising in risk analysis. Maplecroft's tool, the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI), looks at exposure to extreme weather events such as drought, cyclones, wildfires and storm surges, which translate into water stress, loss of crops and land lost to the sea..  more

US: Hundreds Gather in Seattle for Healthy Hospital Food Conference
HCWH – Hundreds of Hospital Food Service Managers, Nutritionists, Dietitians, Public Health Professionals, Authors, Suppliers, and Growers gathered in Seattle, WA, at FoodMed 2011, the nation's most important conference on sustainable food in health care, to share information and learn new strategies to develop sustainable hospital food services procurement and operations.  more

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