Safe, sustainable products, practices reduce disease, catalyze healing in society as well as hospitals

Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries, has been promoting environmentally-responsible health care and transforming health care practices on a global scale for more than a decade. Founded in the US in 1996 by 28 groups after environmental regulators identified medical waste incinerators as the source of almost half of US dioxin pollution, HCHW now brings together a diverse international range of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals, community groups, health-affected constituencies, labour unions, environmental and environmental health organizations, and religious groups. All support the idea that by using safe and sustainable products and practices, the health care industry can reduce disease and catalyze healing in society at large as well as in the health care setting.

HCWH’s many achievements include promoting sustainable waste management and green building systems designed specifically for hospitals; working to eliminate products with mercury and toxic additives and using the health care industry’s purchasing power to create new markets for safe and healthy products; promoting the use of locally-grown organic food in hospital meals, both to improve health and support sustainable agriculture; and designing innovative ways of disposing of medical waste in the world’s remote, rural areas. Its CleanMed conference is the world’s largest event on environmentally preferable medical products and green building, and in 2006, HCWH won a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship for its innovative and effective approaches to making social change. In just one decade, its campaign has had a significant impact on major health systems, health care workers, medical device manufacturers, group purchasing organizations and government regulators.

While the organization began in the US, it rapidly developed a global focus, and now has offices in Prague, Buenos Aires, Manila, and Washington DC, from which it works in partnership with governments, non-governmental organizations and mainstream health care institutions around the world.. In 2003, an Australian-designed  solar-powered autoclave won first prize in its global search for healthy ways to get rid of medical waste without burning in rural areas, thus protecting health care workers, public health and the environment.  “These technologies provide a solution to a problem faced by many poor rural communities, which are burning medical waste and polluting the air with dioxin, mercury and other toxins because they lack access to affordable alternative technologies that are available in industrialized countries,” said HCWH director Gary Cohen.

As well as the portable Prometheus solar-powered autoclave, which can be used in any weather, prizes were awarded for two other simple strategies developed in the UK and US.  “These innovative designs can be built using local materials and operated with little or no electricity, and they do not require highly skilled labor,” said Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, a medical waste consultant who chaired the contest's panel of international judges. “As the World Health Organization (WHO) expands immunization and rural health programs, the problem of medical waste treatment and disposal in rural areas is becoming critical. These technologies are potential solutions to this problem.”

In a first-of-its-kind demonstration in the world, HCWH partnered with the Philippine Department of Health in 2004 to provide measles vaccines to 18 million children and safely dispose of vaccination syringes without polluting the air by burning them. The organization is now working, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program and the World Health Organization, on a global project to demonstrate sustainable health care waste management in Argentina, Latvia, Lebanon, India, the Philippines, Senegal, and Vietnam.

Since environmental and health groups met in London in 1999 to discuss opportunities for working together on environmental issues in health care throughout Europe, HCWH Europe has since developed into a network of over 50 member organisations in more than 20 European countries, with its own constitution, staff and head office in Prague. HCHW Europe has had a significant impact on major health systems, health care workers, medical device manufacturers, group purchasing organizations and government regulators in encouraging safe, environmentally preferable disposal of medical waste, the use of safe working materials, and promoting green purchasing, healthy food, and environmentally sustainable practices in hospitals. A recent report, entitled Fresh, local and organic: A successful recipe for improving Europe's hospital food, shows that when hospitals choose to use locally-grown organic foods, the number of organic farming sources increases to meet this new demand.

In the United States, HCWH has created Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Hospital Association and the American Nurses Association. Over 2,000 U.S. hospitals have joined this program to implement a shared agenda of toxics reduction and environmental sustainability. The Green Guide for Health care has encouraged the development of 84 pilot projects in building hospitals with less toxic materials and healing design elements, and hospital staff are exploring ways to provide healthier, organic foods for patient meals. HCWH also encourages nurses to become environmental champions within the health care system.

This story was prepared from materials found on the Health Care Without Harm website.


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