Alfonso, Cavite — Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Asia together with the UNDP Global Environment Facility Project on Global Healthcare Waste launched the report From the Backyard to the Frontline: Initiatives of Philippine Hospital Workers on Best Environmental Practices at a meeting of 150 hospital administrators and staff in Cavite, Philippines. The report showcases exemplary practices in seven selected hospitals.

“Hospital waste management and the whole gamut of issues in hospitals from harmful chemicals, wastewater, to energy use remain big concerns that we continue to address,” said Merci Ferrer, HCWH-Asia Director. “This report proves that good environmental practices exist and Philippine hospitals and hospital workers are already engaged in them.”

Among the best practices featured are:
- Materials recovery and recycling, banning of polystyrene foam packaging, composting, and encapsulation of autoclaved sharps waste of the Hospital Waste Management Team at Maria Reyna-Xavier University Hospital in Cagayan de Oro City;
- Safe practices to prevent radiation exposure in General Santos Doctors Hospital led by the Radiology Technology team;
- Use of safer alternatives for surface cleaning and cleaning of non-critical items by the housekeeping staff, autoclaving of waste, and maximizing natural lighting at St. Paul Hospital – Tuguegarao City;
- Installation of the first Philippine hospital biodigester designed by a biomedical waste worker to convert food and garden waste into methane gas for the kitchen and laundry, solar panels for water heating, green walls for cooling, and vermicomposting at Perpetual Succor Hospital in Cebu City;
- Wastewater treatment and reuse of treated water for gardening led by the engineers of Philippine Heart Center and Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Paranaque City; and
- Mercury-free dental services from the San Lazaro Hospital dentists.
“The report reminds us that the Philippines is a leader in environmental health practices in the region,” said Ferrer. The country is the first in Asia to have a national legislation mandating the phase-out of mercury in all health care facilities and institutions and the first in the world to have a national legislation banning medical waste incineration.

Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, Chief Technical Advisor for the UNDP-GEF Project, thanked the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres Health Care Ministry, which owned or operated five of the seven model hospitals, and the two other hospitals for allowing HCWH-Asia to document their practices. “Reading the report reminds one of the importance of vision and leadership by hospital administrators, the role of environmental champions among the staff, and the power of creativity and initiative,” said Emmanuel.

He challenged the attendees to follow the examples of the seven hospitals and to be part of the global network of hospitals sharing their good practices. Six of the seven hospitals in the report are part of the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) Network (http://greenhospitals.net/). GGHH deals with environmental health leadership, safe chemical alternatives, waste minimization and safe disposal, energy efficiency and clean energy, water conservation, improved transportation, healthy food, pharmaceutical waste management, green building design, and green purchasing.

The report is part of the UNDP-implemented project on health care waste, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), in cooperation with HCWH and the World Health Organization. The project which started in 2008 was implemented in Argentina, India, Latvia, Lebanon, Senegal, Vietnam and Philippines to demonstrate best environmental practices, non-incineration technologies for the treatment of medical waste, and mercury-free alternatives. 

Download From the Backyard to the Frontline: Initiatives of Philippine Hospital Workers on Best Environmental Practices.