Source: groundWork (page 5)

Article by Luqman Yesufu, GGHH Campaign Manager, Membership Outreach and Engagement in Africa

groundWork, through the Global Green and Healthy Hospital (GGHH) initiative, has been working with health care leaders and hospitals for the past six years on the issues of sustainable waste management strategies that will promote environmental health in both the hospital and the environment. In this regard, by properly sorting and reducing waste, hospitals can achieve two things: they can avoid the disposal cost and reduce the environmental hazards of the waste, thereby being more environmentally responsible.

The decision by the Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal to join the Global Green and Healthy Hospital is a timely boost and a step in the right direction. Six hospitals in the province of KwaZulu-Natal – Edendale, Ngwelezana, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, Port Shepstone, King Edward and Grey – have all pledged to promote public health by continuously reducing their environmental impact and ultimately eliminating their contribution to the burden of disease. These hospitals have each taken up that leadership role of transforming their own institutions to become advocates for policies and practices that promote environmental health, while also saving scarce resources. We should consider this a major positive step, especially as the World Health Organization (WHO) reported recently that one quarter of all deaths and of the total disease burden can be attributed to the environment.

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