Asian Workshop on ‘Successful Strategies to Phase down Amalgam Use towards Mercury Free Dentistry’

An Asian Workshop on ‘Successful Strategies to Phase down Amalgam Use towards Mercury Free Dentistry’ has been jointly organized by UNEP and UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP)  and World Alliance for Mercury Free Dentistry in collaboration with Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) and Asian Centre for Environmental Health (ACEH) in Bangkok, Thailand.

Focusing the amalgam issue, the Asian Workshop was carried out for 2 days starting from 31 May to 1 June, 2016 and was held in the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), Bangkok, Thailand. Government representatives of 6 countries and NGO delegates from 9 countries participated in the workshop.The overall goal of the workshop was to assist Asian countries in developing policies to phase down the use of dental amalgam. Personnel from government, dentistry, NGOs and from international organizations from a total of 10 countries participated in the workshop. This workshop has taken a strategic approach to prepare both regional and national level action plan to phase down/phase out dental mercury amalgam from Asian countries.

The overall goal of the workshop was to assist Asian countries in developing policies to phase down the use of dental amalgam. The Specific objectives were to:

• Enhance awareness of both health and environment sectors in governments and civil society on the measures to phase down dental amalgam as stipulated in Part II Annex A of the Minamata Convention on Mercury
• Development of Alternatives friendly curriculum and study material that facilitate the subsequent phase out of amalgam related technology and practices
• Promotion of the benefits and access of non-mercury dental restorative filling materials.
• To share information about initiatives, activities and best practices of 9 Asian countries on dental amalgam phase down
• To develop national action plans to phase down the use of dental amalgam.