Healthcare sobriety and pollution awareness for a green healthcare sector: a Belgian qualitative study

Abstract The healthcare sector’s contribution to climate change and pollution more broadly is now widely recognised as problematic. Not only does it disrupt the ecosystems and the living environment, but it also paradoxically affects human health. In recent years, an increasing number of countries have committed to reducing the ecological footprint, or in other words, the ‘environmental cost’ of their healthcare system. Achieving a responsible transition toward a greener healthcare sector requires considering the perspectives and potential roles of various actors and stakeholders within the field. Thus far, very few studies have investigated the perspectives of (potential) healthcare consumers on challenges, ethical issues and social tensions that could arise during the transition to a greener healthcare system. To address this gap, we carried out five group interviews, exploring the views of 28 participants on climate change, healthcare pollution, and their sense of engagement in reducing healthcare pollution. Data were collected, coded and analysed using an inductive process. While most participants perceived climate change as a serious threat to human health, many were unaware of the healthcare sector’s significant contribution to it. Pharmaceutical waste and plastic pollution were identified as the main problems. Two promising avenues for reducing healthcare pollution emerged from the findings: promoting healthcare sobriety and improving education for actors and stakeholders on the sector’s contribution to global pollution. Participants defined healthcare sobriety through four key elements: adequate care, collective responsibility, ecological finance, and prevention. Regarding education, they underline that it should be done at the right time, by the right person and in an effective manner. Two important barriers to achieving these goals were identified: participants are less willing to accept trade-offs when it is health-related; and ethical concerns were raised about mobilizing vulnerable populations to achieve carbon neutrality in the healthcare sector.