Taiwan - Representatives of hospitals in Taiwan and several other countries urged health care organizations around the world to work together and promote environmentally healthy hospitals at a ceremony April 11 in Taipei City.
The event was jointly sponsored by the ROC Department of Health Bureau of Health Promotion, International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services, and international coalition Health Care Without Harm.
The BHP said that according to a World Health Organization study, the health care sector in advanced countries with relatively few high-pollution industries is among the leading sources of carbon emissions, thereby posing a threat to human health and the environment.
In addition, according to a 2010 survey by the Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau of Energy, 142 hospitals nationwide were classified as major energy users, accounting for 15 percent of energy use by the nonmanufacturing sector, second highest in this category.
In 2010 the BHP and International HPH Network launched a program in Taiwan to lessen hospitals’ impact on the environment through concrete measures such as switching to LED, or light-emitting diode, lighting, installing energy-saving systems, and adopting waste recycling and reuse. To date, 163 local hospitals have joined the campaign. Of these, 76 are members of the international network.
The event was held on the sidelines of the 20th International Conference on Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services taking place April 11 to 13 in Taipei, the first time it has been held outside Europe. Representatives of 21 Taiwan hospitals and countries including Canada, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, South Korea, the U.K. and U.S. attended.
Ahead of the conference BHP Director-General Chiou Shu-ti was selected new chairman of the International HPH Network’s Governance Board, with a term of two years. (SB-THN)