Health Care Without Harm Calls for a Mercury-Free Health System Measure

August 8, 2008

Health Care Without Harm Calls for a Mercury-Free Health System Measure

In line with the celebration of Hospital Week in the Philippines, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia, urged the Department of Health (DOH) and all hospitals all over the country “to be true to their Hippocratic Oath, To first do no harm, by gradually phasing out mercury use in the country’s health care system.”

According to Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Coordinator for Mercury, “the risk of mercury to people, wildlife and the environment should push the government to fast-track and put in place a law that will eventually make the country’s health care system mercury-free.”

She added that hospitals in US, Europe and members of the European Union have banned mercury thermometers and other equipments that use mercury. In the Philippines, the Philippine Heart Center is the first to switch to non-mercury alternatives.

“Countries around the world have proven that switching to mercury alternatives is affordable and the alternatives give the same result minus the hazards,” said Ferrer. “It is time Philippines follow suit and serve as a model in the Southeast Asian region.”

An Administrative Order (AO) crafted as early as 2007 by the HCWH-SEA in collaboration with the DOH, mandates the phase-out of mercury-containing thermometers and blood pressure devices along with other products that use mercury. The AO is yet to be signed this year.

At the Senate, four separate bills on mercury have been filed. These include Mercury Use in Schools Prohibition Act of 2008 (SB 2278), Mercury Thermometer Regulation Act of 2008 (SB 2259), Mercury Reduction Act (SB 893) and the Mercury Health Advisory Act (SB 678).

A report by Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Power and Poisons: There’s Something About Mercury, said that the Philippines has no available statistics on the country’s mercury releases.

However, Ferrer said that in the US alone, mercury fever thermometers contributed 15 metric tons of mercury to solid waste landfills annually. “… and the worst thing about mercury is once it is released in the atmosphere, it is transported to the rest of the globe,” she added.

World Health Organization (WHO) reported as early as 1991 that a safe level of mercury exposure, below which there is no adverse effects, has never been established. In a policy paper they issued, it presented 3-pronged short, medium and long-term measures that include (a) development and implementation of plans to reduce the use of mercury equipment and replace it with alternatives, (b) increase efforts to reduce the risk of unnecessary mercury equipment in hospitals and (c) a ban of mercury-containing devices and promotion of alternatives.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), on the other hand, formulated a Mercury Program designed to raise awareness of the global environmental hazards of mercury after its Governing Council concluded that there is sufficient evidence of significant global adverse impacts from mercury to warrant further international action.

In October this year, the 2^nd UNEP Open Ended Working Group on Mercury will meet to discuss options and consensus recommendations with regards to the global challenges posed by mercury.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org.