Faizan Hashmi
Urdu Point
Published Date: Sep 28, 2018
Govt. Restricts Mercury Dental Amalgam for Children, Pregnant Women
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 27th Sep, 2018 ) :The government has restricted the use of Mercury dental amalgam for children below 15 and pregnant women in view of its hazardous effects on human health and environment, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute said in a press release .
In an advisory note issued on Thursday, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination has directed all the health departments in all the provinces and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan not to prefer or restrict the dental mercury amalgam fillings for children and pregnant and breastfeeding women, the press release added.
The decision came as a result of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute’s (SDPI) campaigns to ban mercury dental amalgam use in the country from time to time, it said.
The research led by Dr Mehmood A Khwaja, Senior Advisor SDPI on Chemicals and Sustainable Industrial Development, over the last few years has been appreciated not only in the country rather organizations working on mercury related issues in the region.
SDPI lauded the decision of the government and termed it in the right direction at the right time. SDPI is hopeful to eliminate Mercury dental amalgam use not only for children and pregnant and breastfeeding women but also public in general across the country to safeguard their health.
Dr Khawja has appealed to the government to make legislation in this regard and strictly ban the use of mercury not only in dental amalgams but also in other devices.
According to the official notification, Mercury is the 3rd most hazardous substance of global concern to which children are most vulnerable, causing neurological, developmental, reproductive problems, impairing growing nervous system, damage kidney and fetuses.
It is pertinent here that to protect human health and environment from emissions or releases of mercury from mercury compound, the world has acted and adopted Minamata Convention on Mercury to which more than 128 countries including Pakistan is a signatory.
So far more than 92 governments have already ratified the convention. Pakistan is expected to sign it by the end of this year. Parties to Minamata Convention on Mercury are obliged to phase out Mercury in products, including dental amalgam, by 2020. The European Union already banned amalgam use for children under age 15, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers early this year.
Source: https://www.urdupoint.com/en/health/govt-restricts-mercury-dental-amalgam-for-ch-442690.html