Health Care Without Harm Europe

We’re thrilled to invite you to CleanMed Europe from 10-13 June 2025! Submit your session ideas, presentations, or scientific posters by 6 December 2024 to contribute to Europe’s leading conference on sustainable healthcare. We encourage submissions that provide actionable insights, share best practices, or highlight innovative research findings that participants can directly apply to their healthcare settings. There are three formats in which we are accepting proposals: 💡 Plenary sessions: A 45-minute session with multiple speakers/case studies and Q&A. 🌐 Panel participation: Participate in an existing session to present a 10-minute case study, followed by a Q&A. 📄 Scientific poster: Display a scientific PDF poster promoting a sustainable project or evidence-based solution. Together, we will explore solutions that ensure sustainability is woven into every healthcare policy, practice, and culture.

Every day, parents and children encounter chemicals that could impact their health. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), found in food packaging, pesticides, cosmetics, and cleaning products, can mimic hormones and disrupt the body’s natural endocrine system. This interference is especially concerning during pregnancy and early childhood when hormonal systems guide critical development in the womb. EDCs have been linked to a wide range of health issues, including hormone-related cancers, reduced fertility, early puberty, and long-term metabolic disorders like obesity and diabetes. Developing fetuses are particularly sensitive, as disruptions during this time can have lifelong consequences for their health and well-being. Healthcare professionals can empower parents to make small, impactful changes, like choosing products with fewer chemicals or reducing plastic use at home. Supporting these steps is essential during the first 1000 days, a period critical for lifelong health outcomes. On 4 December, we will start the next phase of the Born Green Generation initiative, a project to protect current and future generations from the harmful effects of plastics and toxic chemicals by reducing and avoiding their use and making sustainable healthcare a global norm 🌱🏥 #BornGreenGeneration #SustainableHealthcare

Announcing our flagship publication on climate resilience in healthcare: The Practical Guide for Building Climate-Resilient Health Systems. This new publication, developed by HCWH Europe as part of the LIFE RESYSTAL project, is a comprehensive resource designed to help healthcare systems across Europe strengthen their climate resilience. Regardless of the size and structure of your health system, the Practical Guide provides the essential steps to take to integrate climate resilience into healthcare planning and adapt your system now. 💡 What’s inside? ✅ Insights from the pilot health systems of the LIFE RESYSTAL project ✅ A step-by-step framework for creating a Climate Resilience Plan tailored to your organisation. ✅ Actionable measures to assess and enhance your system's climate resilience capacity. The Practical Guide was officially launched during our latest webinar, Championing Healthcare Climate Resilience in Europe. Thank you to all who joined us and contributed to this vital conversation about how we can safeguard healthcare systems in an evolving climate landscape. Ready to advance your organisation's climate resilience journey? Access the Practical Guide here: https://lnkd.in/eAXABV99 #ClimateResilience #LIFERESYSTAL #LIFEproject

HCWH Europe was on the ground at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, to bring healthcare into the conversation. During the conference, Andreas Ekvall, our Senior Climate Officer, met with health leaders from across the world to advocate for decarbonising and building a climate-resilient health sector. At the World Health Organization (WHO) pavilion, we hosted the side event featuring health leaders and HCWH experts who provided strategic guidance and showcased efforts to curb healthcare emissions with concrete measures and targets. Watch the recording here: https://lnkd.in/dGwf-rhG We also took part in the panel discussion of the event: Adapting National Health Systems to the climate crisis: a XXI century challenge, organised by the Spanish Government. Watch now: https://lnkd.in/eyarAJba More efforts are needed to integrate health into the climate agenda. To safeguard global health and well-being, health systems must be equipped to pursue both decarbonisation and climate adaptation, supported by sufficient funding and resources. As the climate crisis escalates, we must continue to ensure that health and healthcare take centre stage in international climate negotiations. #COP29

🌍📽️ Missed our Climate Resilience webinar? Watch it now on our website and YouTube. Yesterday, we hosted an insightful discussion on Championing Healthcare Climate Resilience in Europe. From introducing innovative tools from the LIFE RESYSTAL project, to discussing the policy frameworks needed to build climate resilience across Europe, we explored how healthcare systems can adapt and thrive in an era of climate uncertainty — how they can become climate-resilient. "As climate change intensifies, and healthcare systems are increasingly affected by extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, heat waves, and storms, it's thus not enough for healthcare to reduce its contribution to climate change," said Gabriella Abruzzo, Climate Projects Officer at HCWH Europe. "It must also adapt, so it can continue to deliver critical services during such crises, protecting communities while also promoting sustainability." Whether you joined us live or couldn’t make it, watch the webinar recording to hear more key highlights, including: 🔧 Practical tools for building resilience in healthcare, including the introduction of a brand-new guide to help healthcare organisations develop comprehensive climate resilience plans 📚 Insights on policies that can foster health systems' resilience in Europe 🌍 Real-world strategies from the LIFE RESYSTAL project to help healthcare facilities adapt to climate change Whether you're already invested in building climate resilience in healthcare or are new to the concept and ready to learn more, this webinar is for you. #LIFERESYSTAL #LIFEproject #ClimateResilience

We are nearly halfway through INC-5, and our international HCWH delegation is deeply engaged in advocating for health-focused solutions in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations. 🙌 🌍 The Europe team attended an EU stakeholders meeting, representing the health sector and calling for a health-protective treaty. 🌏 The Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia team focused on the Rethinking Plastic Life initiative, exploring strategies to reduce single-use plastics in the region, complemented by a photo exhibit and campaign titled Plastics and Health: Southeast Asia Unveiled. 🌎 The Salud sin Daño Latin America team participated in a multisectoral meeting with several delegations to foster collaboration. In collaboration with civil society organisations, government institutions, and dedicated advocates, we are ensuring that health remains a key priority in the treaty discussions. 📑 The journey towards a Global Plastics Treaty that includes the health sector is truly a collective effort. HCWH’s regional offices are working together, amplifying a shared vision for a healthier future for both people and the planet. 🍃 #GlobalPlasticsTreaty #INC5 #ReducePlasticsInHealthcare UN Environment Programme

As the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations unfold at INC-5, we’re proud to present the #ReducePlasticsInHealthcare video. This video features doctors from around the world advocating for a shift in how healthcare uses plastics, highlighting the need for a legally binding treaty to reduce plastic waste. The healthcare sector is a major consumer of plastics, but it also has the power to lead the way in reducing its reliance on single-use plastics and harmful materials. We urge negotiators to adopt a treaty that: ☝️ Protects human rights ☝️ Limits the production of plastics ☝️ Eliminates unnecessary plastic products including single-use plastic ☝ Prioritises detoxification ☝ Ensures transparency of plastic products and materials #GlobalPlasticsTreaty #INC5 #ReducePlasticsInHealthcare UN Environment Programme

Happening today at 15:00 CET! Join us for the Championing Healthcare Climate Resilience in Europe webinar. It’s not too late to register and be part of this essential discussion on strengthening Europe’s healthcare systems to withstand climate challenges and protect public health. We’ll cover actionable strategies from the LIFE RESYSTAL project, hear insights from our expert panel on policy to build resilience, and provide access to a brand-new publication, our Practical Guide to Building Climate-Resilient Health Systems. Whether you're new to this work or already passionate about building climate resilience in healthcare, don’t miss this opportunity to join the conversation today! 🕒 Today, 26 November, 15:00-16:15 CET 👉 Register now: https://bit.ly/48T9PYM

The Global Plastics Treaty negotiations kicked off today at INC-5 in Busan, with the Health Care Without Harm's delegation in full force, representing regions from Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Southeast Asia. 🌍 Today's plenary discussions centred on key procedural issues, while the official negotiations are yet to begin. 📑 Akif Görgülü, representing HCWH Europe, will follow contact group discussions tackling critical articles of the non-paper, including plastic waste management, downstream controls, emissions and releases, and ensuring a just transition for all. As the INC-5 process negotiation unfolds, our team is committed to advocating for a treaty that embraces a life-cycle approach to plastics and holds governments and industries accountable for global plastic pollution reduction. 💡 Stay tuned for more updates! #GlobalPlasticsTreaty #INC5 #ReducePlasticsInHealthcare UN Environment Programme

Join us tomorrow, 26 November, from 15:00 to 16:15 CET to hear from leading experts as we explore and discuss practical solutions from the LIFE RESYSTAL project and policy frameworks for enhancing Europe’s healthcare systems' resilience to the impacts of climate change. Notably, the webinar features the launch of a brand new publication: The Practical Guide to Building Climate-Resilient Health Systems, which outlines essential steps for creating robust health system climate resilience plans. Building climate resilience is about more than emergency preparedness — it means embedding climate adaptation into the core operations of hospitals and healthcare systems. As we decarbonise, we must also strengthen the sector's resilience to protect communities in times of crisis. Don’t miss the chance to be a part of this crucial conversation and get insights into adapting healthcare to the evolving climate landscape. Register now to secure your spot: https://bit.ly/48T9PYM