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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Chari A. Cohen, MPH1, Julie A. Becker, PhD, MPH1, Rickie Brawer, MPH2, and Scott McGrath, AICP3. (1) Women's Health & Environmental Network, 704 N. 23rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130, 215-763-0298, chari@hepb.org, (2) Jefferson Health System, 130 South Bryn Mawr Ave., Clothier Building, Byrn Mawr, PA 19010, (3) Department of Streets, City of Philadelphia, 7th Floor, Municipal Services Building, Philadelphia, PA 19102-1676
Mercury poses a severe public health threat especially for pregnant women and children. Yet the public's awareness about sources of mercury exposure is limited. To increase public awareness about mercury exposure, the Womens Health & Environmental Network (WHEN) organized a thermometer exchange program during Earth Week 2001 at 14 area hospitals. WHEN partnered with the Jefferson Health System and the City of Philadelphia, Department of Streets to kick-off the "Mercury Free Philly" campaign, with hospitals serving as community-resource centers to collect mercury thermometers and provide free digital replacements. This is the first city-wide campaign in the country to hold community thermometer exchanges using hospital sites. Almost 4,000 thermometers were collected, dispensing 3,000 digital replacements. This strategy proved to be a very successful model to reach large portions of the public as well as healthcare workers, while at the same time educating both healthcare institutions and community members about the dangers of mercury. The next efforts will include a city-wide mercury thermometer exchange with more than 30 hospitals and the Delaware Valley Healthcare Counsel.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Environmental Health Hazards, Health Education Strategies
Related Web page: www.when.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.