Lhealth is sick. From the crisis of meaning in the hospital with consequent shortage of personnel to the closure of services including emergencies, passing through the medical deserts and the problem of unequal access to treatment that derives from it, there is a shared emergency. Reforms are needed.
As health struggles, another emergency occupies the minds: that of global warming. Heat wave, drought, fires: the summer of 2022 cruelly illustrated the impact of a devastated environment. Surprisingly, the health and climate crises are considered separately.
There is little debate on the impact of climate on health. And even less on the impact of the health system on the climate. Environmental discourses often focus on other sectors, such as transport, with controversy over road traffic and, lately, the niche sector of private jets.
Putting climate at the center of health debates
Likewise, none of the upcoming health reform projects mention their impact on the climate. Yet, according to the Shift Project, the healthcare system represents about 8% of the carbon footprint in France : that’s almost four times more than all air traffic. Today there is a unique opportunity to bring these debates together.
A major health conference begins in October 2022 that will bring together a multitude of actors under the auspices of the Ministry of Health. Another key meeting will be, at the end of 2022, the new medical agreement that is negotiated every five years between health insurance and health professionals.
Putting the climate at the center of these debates would not only benefit the environment, but would also help in the difficult arbitrations that await the actors of the health system. Hospitals and urban care – care delivered in city clinics – for example, are facing a severe shortage of resources. But, on a tight budget, there will be choices to make.
Too much role of the hospital in the health system
We will not be able to create additional positions in the hospital at the same time et in the city. For some time now, voices have been raised in favor of assistance in the city (“outpatient shift”). However, political implementation is still timid. The hospital’s dominance in the healthcare system makes any change difficult.
Placed in the climatic context, the choice is clear. Of these two care sectors, the hospital has the largest carbon footprint. An Australian study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, allows you to quantify your carbon footprint more precisely. It shows that, per dollar invested, the hospital (public or private) emits twice as many greenhouse gases (GHGs) as city care.
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