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| In this issue |
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| Global News |
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HCWH at UN: Pollution Prevention = Disease Prevention
HCWH participated in a UN hearing in preparation for a High-level meeting of the General Assembly on Non-communicable Diseases to be convened by the Secretary General in September. Noting that nearly 1/10th of preventable deaths were caused by toxic substances, UMass Lowell professor Molly Jacobs, representing HCWH told participants that for chronic disease preventions to be comprehensive, they must include the reduction of risks posed by industrial toxicants. more |
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| Asia |
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China: Phase-out of Mercury Medical Devices
HCWH Partner Global Village of Beijing and Changchun Children's Hospital jointly launched a campaign to phase out mercury–containing medical devices in the hospital. This is the first Children's hospital in China to conduct a mercury-free campaign and marks the exciting beginning of the Chinese healthcare sector's self-initiated action for reducing mercury pollution from medical devices. more |
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Philippines: Health Facilities to Receive Non-mercurial Devices
Thanks to the work of the Alternative Budget Initiative, in which HCWH SE-Asia is a member, the Philippines’ national budget now includes the purchase of non–mercurial health devices like thermometers, sphygmomanometers and calibrators for distribution to government hospitals and health facilities. more |
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| Latin America |
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Argentina: Call for Total Mercury Thermometer Ban
Led by HCWH, thirteen major health organizations including the Society of Pediatrics, the National Nurses Federation, as well as some of the country's leading hospitals, medical and nursing schools, called on the Minister of Health, to extend the phase-out of mercury in health care and the ban on blood pressure devices to a ban on the commercialization all mercury thermometers. more (in Spanish)
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| Africa |
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Tanzania: Study on Mercury in Educational and Health Facilities
HCWH partner organization, AGENDA, based in Tanzania, carried out a baseline survey on mercury use in healthcare facilities and schools. The project counted with the participation of 56 schools and 43 healthcare facilities covering the whole country and measured the level of awareness of the effects of mercury to the environment and human health. more |
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| Featured Partner |
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China: Global Village of Beijing
Started in 2003, Global Village of Beijing's (GVB) Zero Mercury Campaign is dedicated to elevating awareness and participation in mercury pollution issues by Chinese civil society. Presently, GVB is working to stimulate the phasing out of mercury–containing medical products in China. more |
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| Event Calendar |
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Denpasar, Indonesia: Workshop on Mercury-Free Health Care
Date: 5th and 6th, July 2011
Organized by BaliFokus and Health Care Without Harm In collaboration with the World Health Organization Indonesia, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health
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Nonthaburi, Thailand: 4th National Conference on Health Promotion and Environmental Health
Dates: 17th – 19th, August, 2011
Organized by Thailand's Department of Health, with the participation of HCWH Southeast Asia
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São Paulo, Brazil: 4th State Seminar on Healthy Hospitals
Dates: 25th and 26th, September, 2011
Organized by the Center for Sanitary Surveillance of São Paulo, in partnership with the Federal University of São Paulo, the Paulista Association for Medical Development and Health Care Without Harm Latin America
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Buenos Aires, Argentina: 1st Latin American Conference of Hospitals Working on Environmental Health
Dates: 13th and 14th, October 2011
Organized by Health Care Without Harm Latin America and with multiple sponsors, including the Pan-American Health Organization
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Durban, South Africa: 1st First Global Climate and Health Summit
Dates: 4th December, 2011
Organized by Health Care Without Harm, the Climate and Health Council and the World Federation of Public Health Associations
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| Editorial |
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Mercury in Retrograde
HCWH’s global mercury–free healthcare campaigncontinues to gather steam. In the last newsletter we reported on two new countries, Chile and Mongolia, developingnational policies to substitute mercury–based medical devices with safe, accurate, affordable alternatives. This newsletter documents initiatives in China, Tanzania, the Philippines and Argentina.
At the same time, two new guides have just been released that allow the work to scale-up within and beyond the borders of the countries where we are already working. The World Health Organization, as part of the WHO–HCWH Global Mercury-Free Healthcare Initiative, has just released a technical guidance that provides criteria for ministries of health and hospitals alike to chose non–mercury thermometers and blood pressure devices. This guidance is a major step forward in allowing the switch to happen globally. Complementary to this, HCWH has just release a step–by-step guide for hospitals and health professionals to go about replacing their mercury devices in a safe and systematic manner. Together these guides will allow health systems everywhere to make the switch.
HCWH's work continues to grow on numerous other fronts–climate change, medical waste, and the global greening of health care. Check out the event calendar to get a sense of what we’re organizing in Brazil, Indonesia, Argentina and South Africa!
Enjoy the newsletter!
Josh Karliner
International Team Coordinator
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| Featured News – Global |
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Two New Guides for Mercury Phase-Out
HCWH has put together a booklet (available in Spanish, English, Portuguese and Chinese) that provides hospitals with a step by step guide to substituting mercury–based medical devices. Complementary to this, the WHO has issued a Technical Guidance Document (currently only in English), that identifies available resources that support the equivalent accuracy and comparable clinical utility of the substituted products, while protecting health-care workers and the environment. HCWH Mercury Guides | WHO Technical Guidance |
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| U.S. and Canada |
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US: New Toolkit for Planning, Tracking and Benchmarking Healthy Food Progress
HCWH's National Initiative "Healthy Food in Health Care Program" released the Green Guide for Health Care Food Service Credits Toolkit. This new planning and benchmarking suite offers templates, tools and tracking sheets to support hospital food service departments to implement and track their progress towards achieving sustainable operations in their facilities. more |
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| Europe |
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HCWH Joins ChemSec's SIN List 2.0 Tool for Action on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
HCWH Europe has joined ChemSec's SIN List 2.0, a concrete tool for action on highly problematic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC). SIN List 2.0 is a starting point for identifying priority chemicals for stricter control under REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances), as it shows that the Commission and Member States can act now despite the fact that an EU wide approach for identifying EDCs is not in place yet. more
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| New Resources |
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HCWH New Short Video on World Environment Day
We can't have healthy people if our planet is sick. watch |
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Ethical Procurement For Health: New Guidelines
Created by the Ethical Trading Initiative and the British Medical Association, this workbook aims to build health sector awareness and understanding of labour standards in supply chains among procurers. download
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