Baguio City — Amidst another busy day in Baguio City and in the middle of the City's Centennial Celebration, passers by and local government officials and employees got screened using non-mercurial thermometers and blood pressure devices.
"Baguio is always on the lead, especially that the mercury phase-out is very much supported by the City government and local hospitals."
Program Officer for Mercury
The event? Celebration of the 1st year anniversary of mercury phase-out in all Philippine hospitals.
A year after the Department of Health (DoH) issued Administrative Order (AO) 21 mandating the gradual phase-out of all mercury-containing devices in all Philippine hospitals by 2010, "we go around the different cities in the country to show the public that veering away from mercury devices is doable, economical and the best way to go to," said Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Officer for Mercury.
"At General Santos City and Quezon City, more than a thousand people participated in the temperature and BP screening. We aim to reach more people here in Baguio because as far as we know, when it comes to cleaning and greening the environment and protecting the citizenry, Baguio is always on the lead, especially that the mercury phase-out is very much supported by the City government and local hospitals."
Goodbye Mercury for a Cleaner and Healthier Baguio City
"If you look closely, continuous use of mercury devices in hospitals will sooner or later pose us with another question, where do we throw away all the broken thermometers? And what about the uncontrolled and unmonitored disposal of mercury waste?" asked Ferrer. "The last thing we want is for our hospitals to be a primary contributor to toxic pollution here in Baguio."
Malou Jacinto, Administrator of SLU Hospital of the Sacred Heart, reiterated this point saying the shift to mercury alternatives is the only solution now considering the clean-up cost of mercury spills. "Add to that is the danger every mercury device in hospitals poses to hospital workers, patients confined in the hospitals and almost anyone who enters the hospital facilities. We do not want to make the community sicker. That is not what we are here for."
Notre Dame de Chartes Hospital Administrator, Sr. Adelina Javellana, added that the true essence of providing health care is providing care that is safe to the people and non toxic to the environment. "Phasing-out mercury devices in hospitals is a big leap towards that."
Both hospitals have shifted to mercury-free devices.
Mercury-Free Caravan: an RIP to Mercury
HCWH-SEA will go around the different cities for the temperature and blood pressure screening events.
"We encourage everyone to join us in these activities, not just this month but up to 2010 when we will finally put all mercury devices in hospitals to rest. Together, let us show the world that Philippines is mobilizing for the environment and for health," said Ferrer. "We hope too that soon, other industries will follow suit."
Philippines is the 1st Southeast Asian country and the 1st developing country to have a policy on mercury phase-out in hospitals putting it in the same rank with U.S., European Union, Sweden, France, Denmark, Norway and Argentina, to mention just a few, who are all moving towards a mercury-free health care.
The mercury-free temperature and blood pressure devices used in the Mercury-Free Health Care by 2010: I Got Screened in Baguio were provided by Collins International Trading Corporation (distributor of Omron medical devices).