BCEPS represented in The Lancet Commission on Sustainability in Healthcare

The Lancet Commission on Sustainability in Healthcare

The Lancet Commission on Sustainability in Healthcare (LCSH) is an international collaboration to promote and facilitate a transition to low-carbon, resilient, and sustainable health systems.

The scope of academic work includes addressing the key scientific methods and clinical practices underpinning climate action in healthcare and providing up-to-date evidence on environmentally sustainable healthcare policy and governance. Ultimately, health system transformation depends on the translation of knowledge into action, and this final step will be facilitated through implementation science.  

Why sustainability in healthcare?

Climate change and ecological breakdown are affecting the ecosystems with consequential impacts on the health of individuals and the planet. Over the past decade, it has become clear that the health sector is not only at risk but is also a major contributor to pollution and responsible for nearly 5% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Healthcare also represents approximately 10% of the GDP globally and thus has an opportunity to transform not only its own operational practices but extend its influence to society. 

Providing sustainable healthcare means offering appropriate, clinically effective, affordable, high quality and equitable care to all individuals and communities, making responsible use of resources, without compromising planetary boundaries and future generations. 

How is BCEPS contributing to LCSH?

The Commission is co-chaired by Andrea MacNeill & Jodi Sherman and has an international executive committee with experts from different areas covering the natural environment and healthcare, including social ecology, climate change, health policy, anesthesiology, surgery, demography, epidemiology, and health systems.  

BCEPS has two participants in the LCSH: Ole F. Norheim (BCEPS Director) and Anand Bhopal (PhD Candidate). They are both commissioners in a working group dedicated to Health Systems Transformation. This group is focusing on the economic, political, and social structures that support the current system and will identify barriers and enablers of sustainable, high-quality, low-carbon universal healthcare.

Their participation builds on previous work connecting fairness and priority setting in health with climate change. Some of them are highlighted in the Related Content below. 

About The Lancet Commissions

The Commissions are an initiative of The Lancet in which editors, along with academics and experts, work together to identify the most pressing issues in science, medicine, and global health. Using the best available evidence and generating groundbreaking research, the Commissions aim at providing actionable knowledge that contributes to changing health policy or promotes better practice.