HCWH's co-founder Gary Cohen is a recipient of the prestigious Skoll Award. This video, chronicling the evolution of HCWH's work, premiered at the 2009 Skoll World Forum. enlarge video
Global Mercury Campaign
The uses of mercury have been significantly reduced in many industrialized countries. Cost-effective alternatives are available for most uses of mercury. However, these reductions in mercury use have had the effect of lowering demand in relation to supply, which has kept prices low and encouraged ongoing - and in some cases increasing — of outdated mercury technologies in less-developed regions or nations.
Since mercury restrictions are less comprehensive or less enforced in many less-developed regions, these trends have contributed to a disproportionate burden of health and environmental impacts of mercury in those areas.
To protect the health of communities worldwide, Health Care Without Harm and the World Health Organization are co-leading a global partnership to achieve virtual elimination of mercury-based thermometers and sphgmomanometers over the next decade and their substitution with accurate, economically viable alternatives. See the Mercury Free Health Care website.
Key Resources
- Global Movement for Mercury-Free Health Care Report (pdf)
- Global Mercury Phase-outs: information on the HCWH website
- The Mercury Problem: Fast Facts (pdf)
- Mercury-Free Health Care website, a WHO-HCWH Global Initiative
- A New Era: Elimination of Mercury Sphygmomanometers (pdf)
- Toward the Tipping Point (pdf)
WHO-HCWH Global Initiative to Substitute Mercury-Based Medical Devices in Health Care. A Two-Year Progress Report - WHO Policy on Mercury in Health Care (pdf)
