The consequences of air pollution follow us everywhere, even into hospital emergency rooms. But if healthcare companies step up to take climate action, these impacts could be reduced.
The number of U.S. emergency room visits with asthma as the primary diagnosis totaled 939,000 in 2021. How many of those visits were likely due to the quality of air people breathe?
In 2019, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at the levels of two major pollutants – ozone (also known as “smog”) and particulate pollution (also known as “soot) – in 869 counties in the week prior to an ER visit for a breathing problem and found that more people of all ages visit the ER when levels of those two pollutants rise.
These air pollution-driven ER visits further strain hospitals and healthcare systems that are increasingly at capacity, jeopardizing their ability to meet goals and incentives tied to patient safety and outcomes, prevent employee burnout and turnover, and respond to a sudden surge or disaster. As researchers at Yale University have pointed out, overcrowding, in general, is often an indicator of “overwhelmed resources” and a symptom of “deeper problems in the health care system.”
But the healthcare system can come together to potentially ease some of the burden by reducing the impact of air pollution on human health, especially lung health. Because while climate change puts everyone’s health at risk, those with lung diseases like asthma are among the most vulnerable.
Climate change is worsening air quality, increasing the likelihood of allergen exposure, exacerbating the impacts of lung diseases, and increasing transmissibility of respiratory infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 90 percent of people globally breathe unhealthy air.
Millions of people die prematurely every year because they inhale fine particulate matter, continuously, for years. These are particles that contain hundreds of different chemicals yet are small enough to travel deep into the respiratory tract. Exposure to fine particulate matter causes cancers and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). By WHO estimates, air pollution caused 4.2 million premature deaths globally in 2019 and is one of the greatest risks to health.
As a first step to taking climate action, healthcare companies need to recognize the part their operations play in exacerbating environmental pollution. In the United States, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the health care sector is responsible for an estimated 8.5 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
Through programs like the Joint Commission’s Sustainable Healthcare Resource Center, hospital systems have embraced mitigating the environmental impact of their operations. But this issue is larger than one part of the healthcare system can address alone. It’s time medicine manufacturers joined the effort.
Chiesi, a global biopharmaceutical company, embraces its responsibility to reduce its impact on environmental health. Chiesi in the United States stands out in the pharmaceutical industry as both a benefit corporation that is also a certified B Corp. The company is deeply committed to embedding its values into its business, and measures success not only by financial performance but also by the shared value it creates, with a focus on advancing health equity and addressing air pollution.
As Chiesi brings its innovative respiratory portfolio to the U.S., it will build on a nearly 90-year history of delivering sustainable business value globally. The company’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions is still several years away, but small and large steps together have returned significant progress, especially for respiratory patients – including those most exposed to lower air quality environments.
For example, because one of the greatest contributors to Chiesi’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from the propellant gas contained in some of its pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDI), the company is reducing emissions from the production process of its pMDIs. Importantly, Chiesi’s rigorous greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets were approved by the Science Based Target Initiative and align with the Paris Agreement’s most ambitious goal for limiting the rise of global temperatures.
Mitigating the impact of climate change cannot be the responsibility of just a few segments of the healthcare sector. Every player in the industry must take action to address their role in contributing to air pollution. That includes companies like Chiesi that develops and manufactures therapies for patients with lung health conditions. We are working to improve health outcomes of the populations we serve – and the hospitals and healthcare systems they depend on – by doing our part to improve the health of the planet.