Prescribing Sustainability: Transforming the Healthcare Industry for a Greener Future
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Abstract
The healthcare industry’s sustainability is a critical concern due to its substantial carbon footprint. This article highlights the challenges faced by the Indian healthcare sector, particularly in terms of imported materials and long-distance travel. It suggests the implementation of simple checklists tailored to different healthcare facilities as a practical solution. Measures like LED transformation, heat pumps, and mystifiers can help save resources, while the use of medicinal plants in recovery areas can improve both sustainability and patient well-being. Increasing awareness and encouraging discussions are crucial for measuring and implementing sustainable practices in the industry.
Introduction
Healthcare represents 4%-5% of total global carbon footprint emissions annually, which is significant. So we have to do our part to control or manage it. If we don’t, others will also find strong excuses to dodge the bullet.
Sustainable Healthcare in India
India, being more diverse than many global platforms, exhibits a unique carbon footprint. While the global average carbon footprint ranges around 4%-5%, India’s footprint differs due to its reliance on tertiary care. Moreover, the consumer-driven direct carbon footprint in India may be higher for two distinct reasons.
- Many materials, like equipment or parts of equipment, are imported.
- Unlike most Western developed locations, the distance to travel to a healthcare system is much greater in India, people still travel from the northeast to South India or West India or from rural systems to urban systems, and the percentage of urbanization is relatively low.
Therefore, the scale of the problem is high, probably higher in India than in other parts of the world.
The majority of these issues are in the packaging industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and the single-use industry. They have not helped with certain patient safety norms, as seen with single-use devices and single-use safety apparatus.
But the important thing is to consider what can be done. A simple checklist of 10 to 20 things to do can be prepared for different types of hospitals, whether a nursing home, a 100-bed hospital, a 300-bed hospital, or a 500-plus-bed medical college. Some simple sets of tools can be considered like LED transformation, heat pumps, tap mistifiers can be used, which are resource savers.
Some slightly advanced techniques, like medicinal plants in recovery areas, can be adopted. In AIG Hyderabad, there is a 3% improvement in the local oxygenation content, which benefits people during COVID. If there is much greater photosynthetic oxygen production in a hyper-local setting, it can be helpful in a healthcare environment. Therefore, having simple checklists of things we can do makes life easier. But at the end of the day, we need more than awareness and more than 44 participants in a room.
Encouraging open discussions about sustainability and its impact on the environment, emissions, and resource conservation is essential. By raising awareness and engaging in regular conversations, we can initiate measurement of sustainability efforts. Once measured, actionable steps can be taken to explore efficient and practical approaches. Simple checklists can aid in identifying opportunities, such as retrofitting water mistifiers on taps and optimizing air conditioner systems, without extensive studies and reports. It’s time to take immediate action rather than wait and seize these implementation opportunities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, tackling sustainability challenges within the healthcare industry requires prompt action. Customized checklists can serve as practical guides for healthcare facilities, facilitating the adoption of sustainable measures. The sector can effectively measure its progress and optimize resource utilization by raising awareness and promoting discussions. Seizing immediate opportunities to retrofit infrastructure with water mistifiers and energy-efficient air conditioning systems is crucial. Prioritizing sustainability is paramount for reducing the industry’s carbon footprint and fostering a greener future in healthcare.
