HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM SUPPORTS TOXIC-FREE POLICY

January 30, 2009

HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM SUPPORTS TOXIC-FREE POLICY

Manila – Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA), together with more than 60 civil society organizations (CSO), signs the Citizens’ Statement for Consumer Protection against Toxic Chemicals at the National Workshop on Chemical Safety held in Manila on January 27 and 28.

With the theme, Chemical Safety: Protecting Filipino Consumers from Toxic Harm, the workshop aims to draft the plan of action towards the 2020 goal of a sound management of toxic chemicals from its production up to its use in order to minimize the harmful effects on human health and environment.

“We believe that all of us have roles to play to protect ourselves and our environment from toxic chemicals,” said Merci Ferrer, Executive Director of HCWH-SEA. “For our organization, HCWH, we aim to go beyond the boundaries of hospitals. More than lobbying to hospital administrators and heads of the Ministries/Departments of Health in Southeast Asia, we will urge the industry sector to be more critical and not to be too lenient in approving products that are toxic to people’s health and the environment.”

“We will continue to adhere to our motto, First, Do No Harm and make sure that all decisions and actions, especially of the health sector, will not cause more damage to the patients, to hospital workers, community and the environment,” Ferrer added.

The Common Statement will push the government, industry and civil society to work towards 12 points of action: uphold consumer rights, go zero waste, enforce the incineration ban, eliminate POPs, stop toxic waste trade, go organic, protect workers from toxic exposures, save the children from toxic harm, promote the people’s agenda for chemical safety, ensure people’s empowerment and participation, and push for producer responsibility.

The workshop is part of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a global policy and strategy adopted by government and stakeholders to protect human health and ecosystems from the harms caused by exposure to toxic chemical substances. SAICM targets to get signature of 1,000 non-government organizations and CSO in at least 80 countries.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of more than 400 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 Statement is available upon request.

Sonia G. Astudillo, Communications Officer, 0918 9182369, sonia@hcwh.org
Merci Ferrer, Executive Director, 0920 9056113, merci@hcwh.org