19/11/21

Universal healthcare ‘shouldn’t cost the earth’

biomedicalwastedisposal
A medical practitioner putting gloves into a bin. Healthcare in LMICs is a carbon-intensive activity which is “likely to grow with the delivery of commitments to universal health coverage”, according to researchers. Copyright:Rabiul Hasan / icddr,b,,,,(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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  • 发展中国家的医疗保健是高碳,随着覆盖范围的扩展,排放将增加 - 报告
  • Carbon reduction ‘must be embedded into universal health coverage plans’
  • Telehealth and digital services could play an important role

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Healthcare systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are producing substantial carbon emissions and plans for delivering universalhealthcoverage must tackle this to avoid further escalation, according to analysis published inThe BMJ

The carbon footprint of healthcare worldwide — the total amount of greenhouse gases released into thebeplay足球体育的微博by health systems — is equivalent to 2-2.4 Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), or around five per cent of total global emissions, studies have shown.

Healthcare in LMICs is a carbon-intensive activity which is “likely to grow with the delivery of commitments to universal health coverage”, according to researchers from Switzerland, India, Belgium and Brazil writing inThe BMJ

“Embedding carbon reduction as a core theme to the delivery of universal health coverage would help ensure a greater health and healthcare dividend for any investments in growing healthcare.”

Jerome Baddley, chartered environmentalist

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated in 2017 that to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal targets for通用健康覆盖范围,,,,67 LMICs would need an additional annual investment of US$371 billion by 2030.

“If the carbon impact of this investment follows the average emissions intensity for the 24 LMICs [that the analysis assessed], achieving universal health coverage could result in an additional 382 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year,” The BMJ analysis said. “This would increase the global carbon footprint of healthcare by about 16 per cent from 2.4 billion tonnes.”

Jerome Baddley, an author of the analysis and a senior advisor on environmentally sustainable healthcare for Aga Khan Development Network, in Geneva, Switzerland, toldscidev.net减少碳排放的大多数投资也降低了成本,提高弹性和改善公共卫生。

“Embedding carbon reduction as a core theme to the delivery of universal health coverage would help ensure a greater health and healthcare dividend for any investments in growing healthcare,” he said.

Donations appeal

The researchers attributed the high carbon footprint of healthcare systems in LMICs in part to unreliable electricity grids, which leave health facilities dependent on expensive and污染generators.

Ambulances and other transportation vehicles often run on fossil fuels and contribute to the emissions, they said. Use of some clinical products, such as pressurised metered-dose inhalers and anaesthetics, can also result in carbon emissions, they added.

Speaking about the challenges in developing low-carbon health facilities, Baddley said: “This is not only about facilities, but also products, travel, suppliers, and models of care. For example, primary care is lower carbon than hospital care.”

He said access to expertise to calculate carbon footprints, target action, and build the case for investment had been challenging.

“Access to appropriate financing to purchase the most efficient technologies is also often a significant challenge,” he added.

The researchers advocate use of telehealth and digital healthcare in LMICs to increase access to healthcare and decrease carbon emissions.

他们说:“卫生部应该期望LMIC的医疗保健提供者计算其组织的碳足迹,并在提供普遍健康覆盖范围以减少排放量中采取行动。”

They also recommend building zero-carbon healthcare facilities, using low-carbon power sources, prescribing low-carbon products, packaging and logistics, and minimising transportation of patients.

“Government health regulatory bodies must convert the [healthcare] facilities to ‘non-carbon emitting’ ones in a phased manner,” said Diptendra Sarkar, a public health specialist and professor of surgery at the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research in Kolkata, India.

“它必须很快成为一种像'生物医学废物'处置方法一样的'气候废物处置机制。医院必须成立自治委员会以确保定期审计。”他告诉scidev.net

At the UN climate change conference, COP26, held in Glasgow this month, governments from 45 countries pledged to convert to “more sustainable and low-carbon” healthcare systems. Fourteen countries set a target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to theWHO

Marsha Wills-Karp, chair of the department of environmental health and engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore, USA, toldscidev.net: “The recent COP26 commitment of countries around the world to developing climate-resilient healthcare systems is a critical step in the right direction of combatting the current and future impacts of climate change on the public’s health.

“Leadership by healthcare institutions is essential both to reduce the carbon footprint of their services as well as to preserve critical healthcare infrastructures in the wake of climate change-mediated disruptions.”

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Global desk.