The environmental footprint of health care: a global assessment

The Lancet. Planetary Health
Manfred LenzenDavid Pencheon

Abstract

Health-care services are necessary for sustaining and improving human wellbeing, yet they have an environmental footprint that contributes to environment-related threats to human health. Previous studies have quantified the carbon emissions resulting from health care at a global level. We aimed to provide a global assessment of the wide-ranging environmental impacts of this sector. In this multiregional input-output analysis, we evaluated the contribution of health-care sectors in driving environmental damage that in turn puts human health at risk. Using a global supply-chain database containing detailed information on health-care sectors, we quantified the direct and indirect supply-chain environmental damage driven by the demand for health care. We focused on seven environmental stressors with known adverse feedback cycles: greenhouse gas emissions, particulate matter, air pollutants (nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide), malaria risk, reactive nitrogen in water, and scarce water use. Health care causes global environmental impacts that, depending on which indicator is considered, range between 1% and 5% of total global impacts, and are more than 5% for some national impacts. Enhancing health-care expenditure to mitigate nega...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 3, 2020·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Renee N SalasHoward Frumkin
Jan 20, 2021·Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology·Qiong WangDongqun Xu
Feb 3, 2021·Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior·Judi Porter, Jorja Collins
Feb 14, 2021·The Lancet. Planetary Health·Imogen TennisonMatthew J Eckelman
Feb 20, 2021·Medical Teacher·Emily ShawRobert Woollard
Mar 2, 2021·Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease·Jason P Burnham
Apr 2, 2021·Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology : JVIR·Anthony Luis B ChuaJonathan S Gross
May 30, 2021·Topics in Companion Animal Medicine·Maria K KoytchevaColleen G Duncan
Jun 17, 2021·Journal of Foot and Ankle Research·Angela Margaret Evans
Jun 2, 2021·Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics : the Official Journal of the British Dietetic Association·Nathan CookJudi Porter
Aug 30, 2021·Progrès en urologie : journal de l'Association française d'urologie et de la Société française d'urologie·A FilfilanU Pinar
Sep 5, 2021·International Urology and Nephrology·Adelheid GaulyFatih Kircelli
Oct 12, 2021·Ophthalmology and Therapy·Yee Ling WongTariq M Aslam
Oct 26, 2021·International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics : the Official Organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics·Linda C GiudiceUNKNOWN FIGO Committee on Climate Change and Toxic Environmental Exposures
Nov 4, 2021·Anesthesiology·Michel M R F Struys, Matthew J Eckelman
Nov 11, 2021·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Fawzia N RasheedRobert Marten
Nov 19, 2021·Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health·Karen Minnie Kiang, Carol Behne

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