Thursday, November 27, 2008

WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS MERCURY PHASE-OUT IN HEALTH CARE, OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS URGED TO FOLLOW SUIT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 27, 2008

Contact:

Sonia G. Astudillo, Communications Officer, + 63 918 9182369, sonia@hcwh.org

Faye Ferrer, Program Officer for Mercury, + 63 920 9327151, faye@hcwh.org

WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS MERCURY PHASE-OUT IN HEALTH CARE, OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS URGED TO FOLLOW SUIT

Manila - Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia commends the World Medical Association (WMA) for unanimously passing a resolution calling for the phase-out of mercury in health care and urges health professional organizations in the Southeast Asian region to follow suit.

“WMA’s support is showing all hospitals and health care facilities around the world that this is doable and that eventually this is the way to go to for all health care systems,” said Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Officer for Mercury, referring to WMA Resolution signed at the General Assembly in Seoul, Korea in October.

“The resolution cited that although the initial rationale for instituting voluntary mercury replacement initiatives is for occupational and environmental safety, ultimately the motive will be financial considerations,” Ferrer added.

She explained that mercury-free alternatives are “so much cheaper once mercury clean-up costs are taken into consideration.”

WMA’s resolution recommended global, regional/national and local strategies to reduce both supply and demand of mercury in the health care sector. r global strategy, WMA and member national medical associations are urged to advocate for the United Nations (UN) and individual governments to voluntarily cooperate in the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Mercury Programme.

For regional and national strategies, national medical associations are encouraged to advocate for government support to reduce risk related to mercury in the environment.

“A good example of a national initiative is that of the Philippines’ Department of Health (DoH) Administrative Order 21 mandating the gradual phase-out of all mercury containing devices in all hospitals and health care facilities by 2010,” said Ferrer.

The AO signed in August 11, 2008 mandates all hospitals to immediately discontinue the distribution of mercury thermometers in the patient’s admission/discharge kits and follow the guidelines for the gradual phase-out of mercury in two years.

Physicians, on the other hand, are encouraged to take the lead role in the local strategy by eliminating mercury-containing products in their offices, ensuring that local hospitals and medical facilities have a plan to identify mercury sources in their workplace and a commitment to phase-out mercury containing devices and switch to alternatives.

“The resolution looks simple but it will take support from all stakeholders to make it work,” said Ferrer.

“For our part, HCWH-SEA will continue to work with national medical associations in the region and urge them to take the lead in the mercury phase-out.”

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that affects the nervous system. It is fatal when inhaled and harmful if absorbed through the skin. High doses of vapors released by thermometer breakage may cause lung damage. While at lower doses it is harmful to the kidney and the nervous, digestive, respiratory and immune systems.

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. (30)

Copy of the resolution may be downloaded at:

http://www.noharm.org/globalsoutheng.

Friday, November 14, 2008

OSPITAL NG MAYNILA TO BE THE SHOWCASE HOSPITAL IN SOUTHEAST ASIA—HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM

November 11, 2008

OSPITAL NG MAYNILA TO BE THE SHOWCASE HOSPITAL IN SOUTHEAST ASIA—HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM

Manila – Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia sees Ospital ng Maynila in the Philippines to be one of the model hospitals in Southeast Asia in terms of proper health care waste management, employing appropriate non-incineration treatment technologies and joining other hospitals around the world in using mercury-free devices.

Ospital ng Maynila, built in the 60s is located in the capital city of the country. It is one of the four hospitals owned and operated by the city of Manila.

According to Merci Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Executive Director, Ospital ng Maynila having been chosen as one of the model facility in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Project “Demonstrating and Promoting Best Techniques and Practices for Reducing Health Care Waste to Avoid Environmental Releases of Dioxins and Mercury” will be one of the recipient hospitals in the country to benefit from the trainings on proper health care waste management and new alternative waste treatment facility.

UNDP GEF is a 3-year project that aims to demonstrate and promote best practices and techniques for health care waste management to minimize or eliminate releases of persistent organic pollutants and mercury to the environment in eight selected countries—Argentina, India, Latvia, Lebanon, Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania and Vietnam. It will likewise demonstrate the effectiveness of non-burn health care waste treatment technologies.

“The disposal of healthcare waste, the release of highly toxic and cancer-causing pollutants from incineration and the dangers of mercury are problems facing countries all over the world,” said Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, Chief Technical Advisor for GEF. “Through the UNDP GEF project, Ospital ng Maynila will become a showcase for the Southeast Asian region.”

Ferrer added “The Philippine Clean Air Act which banned the use of medical waste incinerators as early as July 2003 and the Department of Health’s (DoH) Administrative Order 2008-0021 mandating the gradual phase-out of all mercury-containing devices in all Philippine hospitals and health care facilities by 2010 will both serve as a strong groundwork for the GEF.”

She added “HCWH has been very consistent in its global call and campaign to phase-out mercury in health care. We believe that through modeling, which is the thrust of the UNDP GEF, hospitals all over SEA and all over the world will see the urgency, as well as feasibility of the campaign.”

Under the UNDP GEF, a Memorandum of Agreement will be signed between the model hospital, the city government and the GEF Global Project Team to allow installation of a new alternative waste treatment system, replace mercury devices with non-mercury, institutionalize a good health care waste management system, train all members of the staff, document the improvements and showcase the hospital as a model health facility.

“A major expectation from Ospital ng Maynila is for them to sustain the model facility after the UNDP GEF project ended and to help replicate the model in other hospitals,” said Emmanuel.

“On the last year of the project, we hope that the example of Ospital ng Maynila will help replicate the best environmental practices and best technologies to other hospitals in Manila, the country and eventually in the SEA region,” he added.

The project in the Philippines targets two hospitals—an urban and a rural hospital. Details of a provincial hospital in Region 1 are still being worked out.

HCWH-SEA, a major cooperating agency to the Project, recommended Philippines to be included in the Project because of the strength of the HCWH network and office based in Manila.

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. (30)