The healthcare sector has outpaced ship and plane exhaust in polluting the earth with its biggest planet-warming carbon emitters, including life-saving anaesthesia, asthma inhalers and MRI scans. This is an area a local medical school wants to examine further.
A new centre at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) will focus on decarbonising the healthcare sector and preparing doctors and nurses to better handle a potential flood of patients suffering climate-related ailments in the future.
As a start, the first-of-its-kind Centre for Sustainable Medicine – to be launched in December during the COP28 climate summit in Dubai – will calculate the carbon footprint of Singapore’s healthcare.
Healthcare contributes up to 8 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, while shipping and aviation, around which there are more discussions on cutting emissions, contribute about 3 per cent each.
One of the major global warming culprits in hospitals is an anaesthetic gas called desflurane. Using one bottle of the anaesthetic is equivalent to burning 440kg of coal, said Professor Nick Watts, director of the Centre for Sustainable Medicine.
Inhalers are needed by patients with asthma, but with every puff of medication, the common L-shaped metered dose inhalers release hydrofluoroalkanes – potent gases that are 1,000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in heating up the planet. The alternative is the circle-shaped dry-powder inhaler, which releases 90 per cent less greenhouse gases.
Esta historia es de la edición November 15, 2023 de The Straits Times.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición November 15, 2023 de The Straits Times.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Dutch chef Sergio Herman opens Le Pristine in Singapore
If the zing of kaffir lime in the mussel antipasti, or the chilli king crab on the pizzette, or the soursop in the gambero rosso seem somewhat familiar, that would be Dutch chef Sergio Herman putting a little bit of Singapore into his food.
SINNER'S 'SPECIAL' YEAR-END TOP SPOT
First Italian to finish the year as No. 1 will clinch 7th title of 2024 if he beats Djokovic
Kiwis get down to business quickly
BARCELONA - New Zealand beat Britain in the opening America's Cup races on Oct 12, with the holders setting the pace in the early skirmishes with the challengers in the first-to-seven contest.
"'SPORTSWASHING' CRY AS NBA PLAYS IN UAE"
But commissioner Silver disagrees that its presence in a key market helps hide abuses
SailGP matures with new tech, stiff rivalry
NEW YORK - As SailGP approaches its fifth season of racing, this professional sailing league is finally flying on its own two foils.
WALLER-LANE IN GUINEAS UPSET
Private Life steals the show after inch-perfect front-running ride in Caulfield 3YO feature
Fintech exec began developing her investing acumen as a teen
Her initial better-safe-than-sorry approach has given way to a higher risk appetite now
Betting apps are more toxic than you think
Betting companies all publicly espouse their commitment to responsible gaming. They help fund programmes to combat addiction and give customers the option to exclude themselves from betting or to enrol in \"cool-off\" periods that keep them from logging in for a day or two.
Revival in demand for private resale homes
Volume of transactions in Jan-Aug up 11% from same period a year ago, data shows
How to plan for retirement when you are on your own
For Ms Sara Zeff Geber, the \"aha moment\" came a few years ago as she listened to a friend recount all the tasks she was taking on to help her increasingly frail 91-year-old mother.