US: HCWH Calls Kaiser Permanente's Decision to Reduce GHG Emissions Important
Market Wacth – Health Care Without Harm praised Kaiser Permanente for its announcement that it will reduce its carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2020, calling the move "foresighted" and a significant step toward improving public health by improving the environment. "Kaiser Permanente is demonstrating how hospitals can reduce their climate change impact as part of their core mission to support healthy people in healthy communities," stated Gary Cohen, president and founder of Health Care Without Harm.  more

UK: Campaign to Reduce Medicine Waste
Bracknell News – A campaign has been launched to reduce the amount of medicine that is wasted. NHS Berkshire, the Primary Care Trust (PCT) cluster responsible for commissioning care in the area, is backing a drive across the region to encourage patients to only order what they need and take their medicine with them into hospital.  more

India: Workshop on Bio-medical Waste
Times of India – The Kanpur university institute of para-medical sciences, medical pollution control committee and Indian Medical Association jointly organized a workshop on management of bio-medical waste. The workshop was inaugurated by CSMU V-C Ashok Kumar, who spoke about the hazardous impact of bio-medical waste on the population. It was due to ignorance and lack of rules and laws that the bio-medical waste is not upto the mark.  more

Japan: Mercury Treaty Should Reflect Lessons of Minamata Disease
Mainichi News – There is growing debate about how to reflect on the lessons learned from Minamata disease in the so-called Mercury Treaty, which is now being discussed with the aim to reduce the use and transfer of mercury in the world to prevent it from damaging the environment and public health. The treaty is scheduled to be signed in Japan in late 2013. Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said that Japan wants to host a diplomatic conference to adopt the pact and call it the Minamata Treaty to show that it is determined not to repeat the grave damage caused by mercury-poisoning in other countries.  more

Kuala Lumpur: BPA Bottles Banned
The Star – The ban on import, manufacture, advertisement and sale of feeding bottles containing the organic compound Bisphenol A or BPA took effect, said Health Director-General Datuk Seri Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman. Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai had announced in March last year that such milk bottles would no longer be allowed for sale as it could endanger infants.  more

Africa: Tentative Steps Towards Adaptation
AlertNet – Governments and civil society organisations in Central Africa are slowly developing strategies in response to global warming. But specialists say the steps being taken seem hesitant in the face of emerging realities.  more

Nairobi:Solar Energy Introduced in Adiquala Hospital
PC Advisor – Computer Aid International, a U.K. charity, has partnered with Computers for Schools Kenya to launch an electronic waste recycling center to address the growing challenge of electronic waste management and its impact on health. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Management (WEE) center will collect and recycle electronic waste all over Kenya.  more

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