Decarbonising respiratory care requires us to deliver care differently

慢性呼吸道疾病是气候变化对健康影响日益严重的主要例子. 恶劣的空气质量和极端天气条件对患有哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺疾病(COPD)的人构成巨大风险，并增加了患这些疾病的人数.²

由于所有药物和医疗保健相互作用都会导致温室气体排放，³ 提供卫生保健的每个人都可以在卫生系统脱碳方面发挥作用. In fact, healthcare's climate footprint is 4.4% of the global total; meaning if it were a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter on the planet.⁴

改善患者预后，减少呼吸护理的碳足迹

At AstraZeneca, 我与一个致力于发现和开发改善患者预后的呼吸系统药物的团队合作, 同时致力于降低呼吸护理的环境负担. Chronic respiratory diseases, including asthma and COPD, are complex, difficult to treat and often poorly controlled, which is associated with a higher carbon footprint.³ This carbon footprint stems from medicines use, 看医生和住院治疗——患者在医院度过的时间是医疗保健排放的主要驱动因素.⁵ 全球有近5.5亿人患有呼吸系统疾病，而且患病率正在上升, the potential associated carbon footprint is significant.⁶

Early detection, 因此，诊断和疾病控制以避免病情恶化是减少整体医疗资源利用和住院的一些最有力的方法, and thus also the carbon footprint of care.³ Adoption of evidence-based treatment strategies and guideline implementation that prioritises respiratory disease control and reduces exacerbations is critical to achieving this; this also presents a solution to decision-makers seeking to decarbonise healthcare.

Delivering respiratory care differently

Alongside efforts to improve outcomes for patients, 使呼吸保健脱碳的另一个关键因素是向气候友好型吸入药物过渡. These medicines, including pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs), are essential options for respiratory patients worldwide.^7,8,9

While pMDIs contribute less than 0.1% of global GHG emissions,³ we nonetheless believe it is critical to significantly reduce this burden. In fact, at AstraZeneca, 减少pmdi碳足迹的工作已经在进行中，这是朝着实现这一目标迈出的重要一步 our Ambition Zero Carbon goal.¹⁰

澳门葡京赌博游戏正在加速下一代呼吸吸入器的开发，使用接近零全球变暖潜能值的推进剂¹⁰ (similar to that of dry powder inhalers), that is also non-persistent (breaks down easily in the environment⁾¹¹ and non-bio accumulative¹² (does not build up within living organisms). 向气候友好型推进剂的切实过渡对于确保患者护理的连续性和维持获得可挽救生命的基本药物至关重要. With first launches of these medicines anticipated from 2025,¹³ these factors should be considered in any climate policy development.

Overall, collaboration among governments, 决策者和全球呼吸界将是在呼吸保健方面提供可持续和挽救生命的卫生保健做法的关键, which continue to meet patient, public health and environmental needs.

Veeva ID: Z4-59297
Date of preparation: October 2023