HAPPENING NOW:
PATHWAYS TO A HEALTHY AND EQUITABLE RECOVERY FOR ASIA: Climate and Pandemic Resilient Healthcare through Clean Energy and Sustainable Waste Management
#HealthyRecoveryAsia
#HealthCareClimateAction

Join us here: https://bit.ly/2Gm8L6x 

(a thread of live updates)

“In this once in a lifetime challenge, we need to increase our knowledge-sharing and mutual understanding to help other countries in the region.

This webinar shall encourage us to think big and act determinably to tackle this pandemic and other health and—

environmental issues.”

-Ang Zhao, Chairperson, AAC

“An integrated approach which sets benchmarks for both passive and active lighting and cooling through inventions in — (1) Efficiency in Building Design and (2) Efficiency in Appliances to improve well-being for staff as well as in-patients, deliver quality service, improve—

climate resiliency (heat stress, flooding, cyclones), and reduce carbon footprint of the infrastructure.”

- Huda Jaffer @hudajfr, SELCO Foundation

Dr. Ravikant Singh @ravikantkem of Doctors for You - India on why is sustainability important in our fight with COVID-19?

-High running cost
-Lots of plastic waste generation
-Huge environmental impact
-The fight will continue for at least 2 years

“Some environmental justice issues to look at. Right now, because of the social distancing protocols, there has been a breakdown in recycling systems, which resulted to economic losses to waste pickers and waste workers.

There’s also the issue of waste workers being—

exposed to COVID-19.

Vulnerable communities are even made more vulnerable like communities that host incinerators, waste dumps, landfills, petrochemical facilities, whose health could already be compromised by hosting pollutive facilities.”

- Beau Baconguis @Beau_tutubi, BFFP

“The pandemic is a once in a lifetime challenge which gave us the opportunity to be more conscious and be grateful for mother Earth and the gift of life.

The major challenges we have faced since the pandemic are: volume of patients, utilization of services, paying capacity—

of patients, revenue, dwindling supplies of PPEs, operational costs on logistics, and the downtime of employees who get infected by local transmission.

—

Had we continued to use disposable PPE sets, it would have cost us Php 9,000,000 already. However, since we used washable—

PPEs which only cost us Php650,000, we were able to save Php 8,350,000. We have been using these reusable PPEs for 5 months now.

—

To eliminate plastic water bottles, we have installed water fountain in the canteen and plans to install in more areas pf our hospital.

We hope to be the first green hospital in Iloilo City.”

-Sr. Arcelita Sarnillo, St. Paul’s Hospital

On using reusable PPEs:

“So far, we have not encountered any transmission on our staff.” -Sr. Arcelita Sarnillo

“It needs to be further researched. We have to think about the economy as well as the unnecessary plastic use when we compare the disposable and—

reusable PPEs.”
-Dr. Ravikant Singh @ravikantkem

Dr @RenzoGuinto: “If we are not tackling the corporations [and the system], after #Covid19, we might still go back to the “old normal.”

So how do we transform the system?”

Dr. @ravikantkem: [In terms of reusing PPEs & its environmental benefit] “Even without hypochlorite, a simple detergent is enough to clean your face shield for example. Because we need to think about the economy and [how these disposable PPEs contribute to] plastic pollution.”

“The solutions presented and innovations introduced in this webinar showed us that there is no such thing as an overwhelming condition that will make us submit and surrender.

You’re vision goes beyond treating patients. You’re mind of healing, goes out to the point of—

addressing climate change and healing our environment.”

-Ramon San Pascual, HCWH-SEA

Pathways to Health Recovery for Asia:
Climate and Pandemic Resilient Healthcare through Clean Energy and Sustainable Waste Management

-end of thread-