Climate Change and Medicines
In October 2020, the NHS became the world’s first health service to commit to reaching carbon net zero, in response to the profound and growing threat to health posed by climate change. The “Delivering a Net Zero Health Service” report sets out a clear ambition and two evidence-based targets.
The NHS Long Term Plan includes:
- To reduce the NHS carbon footprint by 51% by 2025
- Delivering a ‘net zero NHS’: reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040
Medicines are the most common intervention in healthcare, and account for about 25% of carbon emissions within the NHS. There are different ways of thinking about how we prescribe and use medications that can reduce their impact on climate change, for example:
- Choice of medicines e.g. some inhaler devices are ‘greener’ than others
- The supply chain of medicines
- Medicines waste and how medicines are disposed of or recycled
- Over-prescribing of medicines that are not providing benefit to patients, or are not being taken as prescribed
- Medicines packaging
- Hospital admissions for patients with long term conditions, not being adequately managed with their current medication regimens
The ICB medicines optimisation teams are committed to supporting the NHS Long Term Plan by understanding and developing ways to reduce the environmental impact of medicines, working with colleagues in other organisations.
The ICB Respiratory Sustainability Group, in conjunction with local hospitals and community pharmacies, have been working with GPs and respiratory nurses to prioritise the optimisation of medicines for patients with respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). This not only will provide health benefits for these patients but will also support the ‘Green Agenda’. As part of patient – centred annual reviews, the opportunity for ‘greener’ inhaler devices to be prescribed is also discussed with patients. Watch the video below and read this quick guide to choosing the right inhaler for more information regarding the impact of inhaler devices on the environment.