With the Ministerial Resolution No. 0416 of July 5, 2019 of the Ministry of Health, Bolivia prohibited the use of mercury in dental amalgams throughout the national health system. This Information was forwarded to the European Network for Environmental Medicine on the Occasion of the Global Workshop to Implement the Requirements of the Minamata Convention in Geneva, 21-23 June 2023.
Dr. Wayra Sofía Hinojosa Gallo, Technical Professional of the National Oral Health Program, stated in the Resolution that:
“Mercury dental amalgam is a material for dental use that is harmful to the health of both the patient and the operator. The Ministry of Health, being the regulatory body on issues related to the health of the population, must protect the population, and therefore requests that a Ministerial Resolution be issued to prohibit the use of mercury in dental amalgams.”
Dr. Alfredo Laime Callisaya, Head of the Toxicology Area of the Environmental Health Management Program, stated that:
“Mercury is considered one of the most toxic metals, and the problem of mercury pollution is internationally recognized for its effects on the environment and for the damage it causes to the health of living systems and, consequently, to human beings; For the victims of the Minamata Disease, a Convention was signed that commits the Parties to reduce or eliminate the emissions and/or releases of mercury, and also aims to gradually reduce the use and disposal of products containing this element, so in its conclusions Bolivia, being part of the convention, must comply and enforce the procedures approved in the Convention, requesting the issuance of a Ministerial Resolution to prohibit the use of mercury in dental amalgams.”
Here is the original Resolution in Spanish:
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