Environmental Impact of Medicines
Posted in News
To assist trusts in monitoring the environmental impact of medicines we have started to implement CO2 equivalences for common medicines known to have an impact on the environment, and look at ways of incorporating these into the reporting systems. Currently it is possible to estimate CO2 equivalences for inhalers and some inhalation anaesthetics.
The CO2 equivalence of inhalers is based on the NICE documentation which states that metered dose inhalers have a CO2 equivalence of 500g per dose, and dry powder inhalers 20g per dose. Using the ‘CO2 Equivalence’ value on Define and Refine allows you to compare the relative carbon equivalence of the two types of inhaler. Whilst the absolute CO2 equivalent may vary per inhaler, we feel this is useful to provide a direct comparison between product types and Trusts.
In order to further assist a new ‘form’ Drug Filter allows you to search for the dm+d notation of ‘pressurised inhalation’ or ‘inhalation powder’.
Anaesthetic CO2 equivalences are obtained from the Sustainability Development Unit calculators and display a CO2 equivalence for each ml used.
Some example reports can be found here for Define and Refine.