05/11/2026
𝐄𝐌𝐁, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 ‘𝐍𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐞’ 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and environmental advocacy group BAN Toxics simultaneously premiered the music video titled “Nurse Susie para sa Ospital na Toxics-Free” across EMB nationwide social media channels and in major regional hospitals across the country.
The engaging public awareness video, timely released for Environmental Awareness Month this November, features the character mascot ‘Nurse Susie’ and energetic dance performances by personnel from EMB Central and Regional Offices alongside partner hospital staff. The video aims to transform healthcare waste management protocols into an accessible, nationwide movement.
EMB Director Michael Drake P. Matias stated, “Safeguarding public health must never come at the expense of our environment. Improper healthcare waste disposal and the open burning of plastics release dangerous persistent organic pollutants that threaten our communities and ecosystems.”
“Through our joint leadership in the Philippine Healthcare and Mercury Wastes Management Project, the EMB is driving systemic change. Initiatives like the ‘Nurse Susie’ campaign prove that environmental compliance, hazardous waste reduction, and sustainability can be seamlessly embedded into our healthcare system through creative public engagement and steadfast multi-sectoral collaboration,” Director Matias added.
The nationwide HCWM Project directly addresses critical environmental threats stemming from healthcare facilities, specifically by mitigating the discharge of highly toxic dioxins and furans caused by the illegal or improper open burning of hospital plastics; ensuring strict, safe, and sound disposal and phase-out procedures for toxic mercury-containing medical devices across the country; and preventing infectious and toxic hazardous waste from contaminating general municipal waste streams.
At the core of the video's campaign are the 4Cs of Sustainable Healthcare Waste Management: Change Old Habits (eliminating open burning and unsustainable disposal practices); Cut Plastics (drastically minimizing single-use plastics in medical environments); Commit to Reuse (transitioning to safe, reusable alternatives where feasible); and Champion Sustainability (enforcing rigorous source segregation to prevent cross-contamination and lower specialized treatment costs)
Six major regional healthcare hubs participated in the simultaneous rollout, incorporating the music video into regular television broadcast rotations in waiting areas and wards to continuously educate health workers, patients, and visitors, including Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC-NCR); Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC-Region 2); Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC-Region 8); Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC-Region 10); Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC-Region 11); and CARAGA Regional Hospital (CRH-Region 13)
HCWM Project Manager and BAN Toxics Deputy Executive Director Jam Lorenzo said, “Proper waste segregation at source is vital to prevent the mixing of hazardous and infectious waste with general waste, minimizing cross-contamination risks and lowering disposal costs and environmental impacts.”
The initiative is a key milestone under the Philippine Healthcare and Mercury Waste Management Project (HCWM) implemented by the EMB of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in partnership with the civil society BAN Toxics, and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Through the continuous nationwide rollout of the HCWM Project, EMB reinforces its commitment to enforcing national environmental standards, reducing hazardous chemical releases, and building a cleaner, safer, and toxics-free healthcare landscape for all Filipinos.
