In January 2011, the Ministry of Health and the National Emergency Management Agency of Mongolia issued a Joint Order to ban further procurement of the mercury containing thermometers, sphygmomanometers and dental amalgam.
Together with the Join Order, a pilot project to eliminate the use mercury in the local healthcare sector was initiated in 2011 with the support of the World Health Organization. In 2012 this initiative was scaled up: led by the National Public Center’s Toxicology Laboratory, a survey on mercury use and contamination was carried out in 16 tertiary and secondary hospitals in Ulaanbaatar. As a result, 14 hospitals were announced mercury-free and received a Certificate from Mongolia's Vice Minister of Health.