Sustainable medicines development and use: Our collective responsibility for action to mitigate the natural world crisis

Combatting climate change using education and training in pharmacology and therapeutics

The climate crisis has implications for the physical and mental health of people worldwide, while, paradoxically, healthcare itself contributes significant greenhouse gas emissions. Healthcare professionals need to be prepared to both mitigate the impacts of climate change and also manage the health effects of the climate crisis. Widespread adoption of sustainable healthcare models is required, with sustainability-driven improvements in clinical pharmacology intrinsically linked to this. Recognizing that education and training are essential steps to equip medical professionals with the knowledge to face the unprecedented challenges that the climate crisis presents, here, with reference to pharmacology and therapeutics, we discuss how the theme of Education for Sustainable Healthcare (ESH) can be integrated into undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes and how barriers to successful implementation can be tackled. We support the use of the Principles of Sustainable Clinical Practice as a framework to guide educational interventions and draw upon examples of our own practice at Brighton and Sussex Medical School where ESH has become a core component of medical education in our undergraduate curriculum.

Sustainable medicines use in clinical practice: A clinical pharmacological view on eco-pharmaco-stewardship

Climate change continues to pose a dangerous threat to human health. However, not only is health impacted by this crisis, healthcare itself adds to the problem, through significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) is responsible for an estimated 4% of the overall national carbon footprint. Medicines account for a quarter of this and whilst they are vital for health now, through sustainable use they can also positively influence the environmental health of the future. In this review, we explore how clinical pharmacologists and other health care professionals can practice sustainable medicines use or eco-pharmaco-stewardship. We will discuss current and near future environmental practices within the NHS, which we suspect will resonate with other health systems. We will suggest approaches for championing eco-pharmaco-stewardship in drug manufacturing, clinical practice and patient use, to achieve a more a sustainable healthcare system.