Manila — International organization Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA) says former DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral appointment as Health Secretary is an encouraging move for environmental health issues in the country.
"Cabral is to ensure that we will reach the target of complete phase-out of mercury in our health care system by 2010"
Executive Director
As head of the Philippine Society of Hypertension back in 2006, Secretary Cabral expressed full support in the mercury phase-out in Philippine health care and advocated for mercury alternatives during the 1st Southeast Asia Conference on Mercury in Health Care.
In 2008, the Department of Health (DoH) signed Administrative Order 21 mandating the gradual phase-out of mercury in all Philippine hospitals by September 2010.
“In 2009, of the more than 1,800 hospitals in the country, only close to a hundred have phased-out and are phasing mercury in their hospitals. Now that we are nearing the September deadline, the challenge for Sec. Cabral is to ensure that we will reach the target of complete phase-out of mercury in our health care system by 2010,” said Merci Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Executive Director.
This year, HCWH-SEA is set to go around the country for regional conferences on mercury phase-out.
“We are at a time when environmental health issues should be given utmost attention,” Ferrer pointed out. Other envi-health issues raised by the group include chemical safety and safer alternatives, waste management and climate change all in the hospital setting.
“Beyond these, we’d like to remind the Secretary of the impounded health budget that we have been following-up for release,” said Ferrer.
Under the 2008 General Appropriations Act, the unreleased health budget includes Php 100 million for the purchase of autoclave machines for infectious medical waste treatment, the Php 400 million for the tuberculosis program and the Php 1.82 billion for family health. For 2009, the government allotted 13.2 million for purchase of mercury thermometers to government hospitals. This remains unreleased to date.
“We call on the new leadership to take on environmental health issues and continue on positive actions for environmental health.”