[Climate-smart and effective health care reduces green-house gas emissions]

Health care is associated with a considerable climate impact and this short review describes approaches to reduce this impact. Reviews from WHO and World Bank Group end up with recommendations on low-carbon and resilient health care which is beneficial for health, economy and climate. The concept of climate-smart healthcare has been suggested as new way of describing this much needed work. In Skåne Region, Sweden a four-step method has been developed to reduce the climate impact of hospital care: to map and identify areas of greatest impact, to work with measures to reduce impact and evaluate the results. A test of this method showed a significant reduction in emission of CO2. In another project, fast-track access for patients with hematuria for diagnosis of bladder cancer showed that the median time from referral to diagnosis was reduced in comparison with conventional care with less costs and less use of resources associated with climate impact.