NoHarmAsia Blog - Minamata Treaty: Mercury-free Health Care by 2020!

 — One of the ten Global Green and Health Hospitals goals is to substitute chemicals with safer alternatives. A top action item under this goal is to substitute mercury-based thermometers and blood pressure devices with accurate, affordable alternatives. Thousands of hospitals around the world— many members of GGHH– have already made the switch and more are doing so every day.

Going mercury-free just became both more urgent and easier to do. On January 19 in Geneva, as part of the final text of a global mercury treaty, the world’s governments agreed to end the manufacture, import and export of all mercury-based medical devices— effectively phasing them out by 2020. They also called for a phasing-down of dental amalgam— a major source of mercury in the global environment. Negotiated over several years, the Minamata Treaty is set to be signed at a diplomatic conference in Japan in October 2013.

The health care aspect of the Minamata treaty is a major victory for all who have worked to substitute mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers (blood pressure devices). The agreed upon 2020 phase-out date represents the global acceptance and institutionalization of 15 years of work by HCWH and many others around the world to substitute mercury-based medical devices with safe, accurate and affordable alternatives. From the nurse on the ward, to the hospital director, to the public health official, to health professional associations, federations, governments and international organizations who have organized for mercury-free health care around the world—all should share in the credit for and celebrate this important achievement.

As a result of the ongoing global efforts, mercury-based medical devices are already phased-out or being phased out in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. The treaty will further expand and engage new elements of government and civil society from around the world. We are extremely pleased with this outcome.

HCWH, as part of the joint Global Mercury-Free Healthcare Initiative that it co-leads with WHO, will be focusing on the target date of 2020 set by the treaty. We will be working with health professionals, hospitals, manufacturers, health systems and ministries of health to assure the rapid transition to accurate, affordable alternatives in order to achieve global mercury-free healthcare by 2020. Furthermore, we will be continuing our effort in promoting and advocating the environmentally sound management of mercury waste from health care facilities.

Josh Karliner, HCWH International Coordinator

Health Care Without Harm is an international coalition of more than 500 organizations in 53 countries, working to transform the health care sector worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. Visit the HCWH website for more information.