International Conference on mercury Substitution in Mexico

An international Conference on Mercury Substitution and Use Reduction  in Hospitals was held in Mexico City on the 30 June and 1 July 2008.

 The conference, organized by Health Care Without Harm and its national focal point the Centro de Analisis y Accion en Toxicos y sus Alternativas (CAATA), was sponsored by the Comission for Environmental Cooperation (CCEC), as well as by Mexico’s environmental and health authorities.   The event, featured the advance of mercury substitution and reduction  practices in the National Children’s Hospital “Federico Gómez," a National Institute of Health, the National Pediatrics Institute and others efforts in the States of Chihuahua, Sonora and Guerrero. 

The conference also featured mercury substitution experiences from other Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Costa Rica, as well as from the US and Europe.  All conference was recorded by professional TV internal of the Hospital even do will be needed some support to edit useful parts of it.About the conference it were two notes in national newspapers, one note in national TV and one note in a network electronic service for health people,

The Conference was attended by 252 people, comprised of representatives from 68 health institutions, including: 32 Hospitals from Mexico City and eight other States, six National Institutes of Health, representatives from the Health Ministries of four States, as well as represenatives from the Federal environment and health ministries, along with the World Health Organization. 

In the opening ceremony was a Subsecretary of the Federal Environment Minister, representatives of Health Ministery  as well as the Director of  the Hospital Infantil Federico Gómez, the Conferece host. One of the main conclusions of the conference was the need for a national phase-out policy of mercury in hospitals in Mexico.   Key steps identified were the replacement of mercury fever thermometers, a mercury-free purchasing policy at federal level, and provision of training and for a for information exchange for the growing number of hospitals and nurses networks interested in this matter.

The activities are part of the Pilot project supported by the CEC and conducted in Mexico by the Center for Analyses and Action on Toxics and their Alternatives (CAATA) the national focal point of Health Care Without Harm.  This effort also forms part of the broader UNEP Mercury Products Partnership. For more information on HCWH in Latin America see www.saludsindanio.org

Source: Fernando Bejarano
Director of Centro de Analisis y Accion en Toxicos y sus Alternativas (CAATA)
Focal Point of Health Care Without Harm in Mexico