Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is an international coalition of more than 400 organizations in 52 countries working to transform the health care industry so it is no longer a source of harm to people and the environment. HCWH has offices in the United States (Washington DC and San Francisco), the European Union (Prague), South America (Buenos Aires), and South East Asia (Manila). HCWH also has close programmatic partnerships with organizations working on these issues in the African Region (in Durbin , South Africa) and in the South Asian Region (in New Delhi and elsewhere in India).

HCWH has been working since the mid-1990’s to promote the reduction and phase-out of sources of mercury pollution from the healthcare sector. This includes especially, promoting the phase-out of mercury-containing healthcare devices when reliable and affordable alternatives are available. HCWH has nearly ten years experience in collaborative work on these issues with hospitals, health care workers, other NGOs, medical device suppliers and government ministries and agencies.

HCWH work on mercury began in the United States with mercury thermometer exchange campaigns and related efforts to foster local and state legislation. Building on this work, HCWH developed relationships with major medical device manufacturers; and entered into a formal collaboration with the American Hospitals Association, the American Nurses Association and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

This diversity of efforts has significantly influenced the American health sector and helped create an emerging national consensus on the part doctors and nurses’ associations, pharmacies, major hospital chains, and hospital group purchasing organizations to promote reliable and affordable alternatives to mercury-containing medical devices, and to work for their substitution. Already, m ore than 4,000 health care facilities in the U.S. have pledged to become mercury free. (For more information on this, see: http://www.noharm.org/mercury/issue)

HCWH is pursuing similar work in the European Union, and is now increasing its efforts in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Among other efforts, HCWH proposed to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) the concept of developing a global project entitled “Demonstrating and Promoting Best Techniques and Practices for Reducing Health Care Waste to Avoid Environmental Releases of Dioxins and Mercury .” This concept was approved and has been formally endorsed by seven participating countries: Argentina , India , Latvia , Lebanon , the Philippines , Senegal and Vietnam . This project will, inter alia, promote examples of mercury-free health care, and develop related training programs for health care workers, managers and policy makers. UNDP is the GEF Implementing Agency for this Project. HCWH and WHO are both Principle Cooperating Agencies. It is anticipated that preparatory work under a GEF PDF B grant will be completed in early 2006, and full Project implementation will follow soon afterwards.

In 2006 Health Care Without Harm is planning to hold four regional workshops on Alternatives to Mercury in the Health Care Sector.  They will take place in Manila—South East Asia, Buenos Aires—Latin America, Durbin – Southern Africa, and New Delhi – India.