NEW YORK—Earlier this month, Review of Ophthalmology shared an in-depth look at how pharmaceutical companies, surgeons and ophthalmology professionals are working toward a more sustainable industry. As Andrew Beers, associate editor, writes, “Government and non-profit organizations have warned about the role the health care system plays in climate change. In 2020, the U.S. health care system attributed to 8.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions nationally, rising approximately 6 percent between 2010 and 2018. This was and continues to be impacted by hospital care, physician and clinical services and prescription drug usage in America. A large contingent of physicians and companies are calling for sustainability efforts to be enacted to ensure the health and well-being of patients, especially in ophthalmology.

“Surgical procedures and treatments in ophthalmology require the use of multiple instruments, drugs and other surgical materials that ultimately contribute to the carbon footprint of a physician’s clinic. Due to differing surgical demands around the world, the carbon footprints of ophthalmology clinics will vary,” Beers’ article said.

The full, detailed article, available online here, covers ophthalmology’s impact on climate change, a number of large industry initiatives from major companies to take steps toward sustainability, and how sustainability looks at the ground level in ophthalmology practices around the country. 

 
In the section dedicated to ophthalmology's impact, the article discusses the carbon footprint of common procedures like cataract surgery, as well as things like biohazardous waste. The article also takes a look at the work done by EyeSustain, a coalition of organizations working to make ophthalmic care more sustainable.  

Industry initiatives include work from Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, AbbVie, Glaukos, Johnson & Johnson, Zeiss and Sight Sciences. Finally, the section dedicated to sustainability in practices covers what ophthalmologists can do on the ground level to up their sustainability practices, including with the help of EyeSustain. 

The full article is available on Review of Ophthalmology.