How can health care facilities reduce their environmental footprint and contribute to more sustainable health systems?
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World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe
Abstract
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35 p.
The relationship between climate change and health systems is bidirectional: health systems need to adapt to address evolving needs caused by the change in climatic conditions, and reduce their environmental footprint to mitigate their own effect on climate. Increased exposure to changing climatic conditions impacts human health in many ways, including through heat exhaustion and heatstroke, and an increased risk of infectious as well as heart, lung and kidney diseases. At the health system level, these effects may be accompanied by changing demands for health care, while health services might be disrupted by damage to health care infrastructure and facilities inflicted by extreme weather events. At the same time, health systems are on average responsible for around 5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, of which 17% are directly related to activities in health care facilities. Hence, reducing the environmental footprint of health systems is key in countries’ efforts to mitigate climate change. This brief focuses on actions towards environmentally friendly delivery of care that are particularly relevant for the health care facility level.
The relationship between climate change and health systems is bidirectional: health systems need to adapt to address evolving needs caused by the change in climatic conditions, and reduce their environmental footprint to mitigate their own effect on climate. Increased exposure to changing climatic conditions impacts human health in many ways, including through heat exhaustion and heatstroke, and an increased risk of infectious as well as heart, lung and kidney diseases. At the health system level, these effects may be accompanied by changing demands for health care, while health services might be disrupted by damage to health care infrastructure and facilities inflicted by extreme weather events. At the same time, health systems are on average responsible for around 5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, of which 17% are directly related to activities in health care facilities. Hence, reducing the environmental footprint of health systems is key in countries’ efforts to mitigate climate change. This brief focuses on actions towards environmentally friendly delivery of care that are particularly relevant for the health care facility level.