Hospitals in the United States are beginning to recognize that the health of people is interlinked with the health of the surrounding community and the environment.
Hospitals in the United States are beginning to recognize that the health of people is interlinked with the health of the surrounding community and the environment at large.
Health care officials are adopting a progressively ecological approach, reports say. They are doing away with incinerators, procuring safer construction materials and serving up healthier food for patients.According to the Centers for Disease Control, chronic diseases and conditions now affect more than one third of the US population.
In spite of medical advancements, scientific evidence shows an increase in asthma, autism, learning disabilities, birth defects, childhood brain cancer, endometriosis and other chronic conditions linked to toxic pollutants, notes Stacy Malkan.
He is the communications director for Health Care Without Harm, a coalition of 450 groups in 55 countries working to transform the health care industry.
The campaign of such advocacy groups seems to have had some positive impact.
In 1995, for example, medical waste incinerators were the number-one source of dioxin, a most potent carcinogen, cancer-causing chemical.
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But now a decade later, more than 5,000 medical waste incinerators have closed down in the US. Fewer than 100 remain. Thousands of hospitals are phasing out products that contain mercury.
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With the health care industry's purchasing power, "We can force suppliers to generate environmentally sensitive products,” a top executive has said.
Stacy Malkan says it should be possible to make health care industry ecologically sustainable without compromising on patient safety or care.
Source-Medindia
SRM
