As the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) approaches, there is a need to bring the voice of the global healthcare community to the climate negotiating table. Companies can – and should – play a critical role in tackling climate change by meeting their goals and pursuing their commitments to environmental, social and governance practices. This role is now more important than ever in light of the growing threats of climate change, systemic inequality, and disparities in health services between countries of the world, which pose a real threat to individuals, societies and the planet.
The healthcare sector is responsible for between 4.4% and 4.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. And if we consider the global health care sector as a country, it will represent the fifth largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, according to a report conducted by “Healthcare with Out Harm” in cooperation with “Arup”. From this standpoint, it is imperative that we focus on healthcare technologies that contribute to providing early diagnosis and treatment of diseases in a better and faster manner to more patients, in parallel with reducing or eliminating our impact on the environment. One of the many ways to address the ongoing climate crisis is to support global access to health care, particularly for the underserved half of the world’s population, with no access to basic health services, by relying on digital technologies and telehealth solutions.
To support a more sustainable future in the healthcare sector, we must look for ways to help health systems improve efficiency and reduce waste. With the world witnessing a shortage of staff and an increase in the number of patients due to the pandemic, it is imperative for the health sector to find ways to make better use of current resources in providing care to more patients. Digital health technologies and telehealth solutions have a positive impact on environmental change because they eliminate the need for patients to travel long distances to and from health care facilities, in addition to reducing the use of single-use personal protective equipment that causes high levels of global warming.
As a leader in medical and diagnostic technology innovation, we develop effective mechanisms and harness the power of digital technologies to transform the largest medical equipment into devices that leave a smaller environmental footprint on our planet, and we support the health sector in the Middle East with solutions that enable real-time, comprehensive monitoring of patients’ condition in Healthcare centers, hospitals and the entire health system. By doing so, we empower the health sector to reduce its carbon footprint, support countries to achieve climate goals, and help clinical teams deliver prompt, appropriate care without delay.
In hospitals located in remote areas and rural communities in the Middle East, for example, ICU patients benefit from 24/7 monitoring of their health using advanced software that collects patient data from multiple sources and constantly monitors vital signs. In the event of any danger being detected, an alert is sent to a specialized team that provides remote intensive care consultations, which in turn communicates with the team in the hospital to help it provide appropriate care immediately. Remote intensive care technology has been implemented in Saudi Arabia and is supporting the Kingdom to reach zero neutrality by 2060. This teleconsultation solution is also being used in other countries such as Qatar and Turkey.
On the other hand, remote maintenance and repair service technologies have helped ensure that healthcare equipment continues to operate during the pandemic and beyond today. GE Healthcare is meeting the growing demands of the healthcare sector in the Middle East, North East Africa and Turkey region with more than 250 service engineers, who have helped address nearly a third of health equipment issues remotely.
In other scenarios, remote monitoring systems have proven to be effective in cases of transporting heart patients by ambulance to the hospital, as it enables the EKG examination to be performed during transport, allowing the physician to immediately see the result of the examination when the patient arrives at the hospital and assess the patient’s condition faster This supports the decision-making process for the appropriate treatment.
Remote solutions also address the issue of restrictions imposed on hands-on training operations, which played a pivotal role during the pandemic, as we introduced the Digital Expert solution, a new approach to hands-on training through live and customized sessions that take place through a mobile tablet capable of connecting to the system easily .
For many years, we have focused our efforts on developing medical equipment to improve its quality and improving advanced programs to increase the levels of confidence in diagnostics, and we are constantly challenging ourselves to continue the development process. An example of this is the development of a new magnetic resonance system that is designed to reduce helium use by up to 67%, as helium is a scarce and non-renewable resource. The current version of the MRI system is 2 tons lighter than its predecessor. We have also enabled medical staff to reduce the amount of energy consumed in MRI procedures and scan time by up to 50%, which contributes to saving resources and improving the patient experience.
Given that emissions from the healthcare sector exacerbate the problem of climate change and its negative consequences on health, it is important to find sustainable solutions and adopt more environmentally friendly initiatives to support efforts to combat climate change. In this sense, the public and private sectors must work together in order to succeed in adopting more sustainable practices in health care systems; In the absence of this collaboration, it will be impossible to realize the full potential of telehealth technologies.
Climate change is an integral part of our mission at GE Healthcare to improve services and outcomes for patients, healthcare providers and researchers around the world, and we have a responsibility to strengthen our actions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. To support the region’s healthcare sector and meet its sustainability ambitions, we have committed to the “Science-Based Targets” initiative, and are working to set ambitious targets to reduce Scope 1 and Scope emissions from our operations as well as develop our Scope 3 emissions reduction goals that align with global warming reduction goals to Below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
As the consequences of the pandemic and other health concerns continue to affect the global healthcare sector, it will take longer to achieve some measures to protect people and the planet. However, changing the way health care is currently delivered will contribute to building a more sustainable future for everyone in the world.
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