What is it about?
Climate change and environmental damage are closely linked to human health, yet the healthcare sector's contribution to these issues is often overlooked. Healthcare accounts for 4–5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, generates a lot of waste, and contributes to the pollution of the environment with pharmaceuticals. These drugs, while crucial for treating illness, have an environmental impact throughout their lifecycle—from production to disposal. They release greenhouse gases, contaminate water and soil, and cause biodiversity loss. The healthcare system needs to act now to reduce the environmental harm caused by pharmaceuticals, including avoiding unnecessary prescriptions, finding greener alternatives, and improving pharmaceutical waste management.
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Why is it important?
The environmental impact of pharmaceuticals is a growing concern because it affects the planet's health, which in turn impacts human health. By ignoring the environmental consequences of pharmaceuticals, we risk further damaging ecosystems, which provide essential services like clean water and air. This can lead to a worsening health crisis, with harmful effects on biodiversity, ecosystem stability, and even the development of drug-resistant diseases. Immediate action is needed to reduce this environmental harm to ensure a healthier, more sustainable future for both people and the planet.
Perspectives
In writing this article, I am reminded of the harm that we continue to inflict on our precious planet. Health care is not exempt from causing environmental harm, but rather, presents unique environmental challenges such as the effects of pharmaceutical pollution in our water and soil. These impacts are often overlooked in a sector whose fundamental purpose is to save lives. However, if we do not act to reduce health care's environmental harm, the professions mantra to 'do no harm' becomes meaningless. I hope that everyone who provides and uses health care will do so with the planet in mind - a healthy planet is needed for a healthy population.
Amy Booth
University of Oxford
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Addressing the Environmental Impact of Pharmaceuticals: A Call to Action, British Journal of Hospital Medicine, January 2025, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/hmed.2024.0841.
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