Building medical facilities to effectively respond to climate change

Workshop participants reviewed experiences gained from three district hospitals implementing pilot models to enhance climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability of health facilities.

Dr. Lo Van Tung, Head of the Department of Environmental and Community Health, Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health, spoke at the workshop.

According to Dr. Lo Van Tung, Head of the Department of Environmental and Community Health, Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health, the project will be implemented from 2021 - 2023 at 3 hospitals, including Bac Ha District General Hospital (Lao Cai), Yen Thanh District General Hospital (Nghe An), Cu Lao Minh Regional General Hospital (Ben Tre) representing 3 climate regions of Vietnam, from which the "Guidelines for building medical facilities capable of adapting to climate change and sustainable environment" will be compiled to apply nationwide.

The model consists of four components: Clean water, sanitation and medical waste management; Capacity building and awareness raising; Energy efficiency and green energy; Improvement of infrastructure, technology and products. Through the development of the program, the Vietnamese Government aims to ensure safer healthcare for patients, while contributing to the implementation of Vietnam's national and international commitments on climate change, including the Prime Minister's commitment at COP26 to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Mr. Ton Tuan Nghia, technical officer of the World Health Organization (WHO), shares about solutions to reduce emissions in the health sector.

Hospitals and health care facilities are vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change, and are also contributing to environmental problems. Globally, the health sector is currently responsible for about 4.6% of total greenhouse gas emissions. According to Mr. Ton Tuan Nghia, technical officer of the World Health Organization (WHO), the health sector can completely participate in zero net emissions with solutions such as investing in building zero-emission infrastructure and buildings, using 100% renewable energy, encouraging low-carbon pharmaceutical production, implementing circular healthcare and sustainable healthcare facility management, building a highly efficient health system, etc.

MSc. Nguyen Dinh Tuan Phong (Electricity University) said that based on the current status of 3 medical facilities, the project has proposed many solutions to help save electricity, increase equipment efficiency and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. From simple things like classifying and pasting air conditioner user manuals, regularly checking insulation panels for windows, and insulating medical equipment steaming systems to complex things like replacing solar LED high-pressure lamps.

Regarding adaptation to negative impacts from climate change, sharing experience in implementing the model at Yen Thanh District General Hospital, Dr. Phan Thi Thuy, Department of Infection Control said: To solve the problem of frequent shortage of clean water, the project has supported the hospital to invest in a new liquid waste treatment system with a processing capacity of 200m3/day. Not only that, it helps save costs for the hospital, from 30 million VND spent on water each month down to 8 million VND. All the savings are transferred to support poor and disadvantaged patients with the hope that all people will benefit from the WHO project....

According to Dr Angela Pratt, WHO Representative in Viet Nam, having a safe water supply is a prerequisite for providing high-quality health care services, and making it easier for people to access health services where they live. Investing in climate change adaptation also reduces costs and contributes to building more efficient and equitable health systems.

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