Health sector can’t ignore green gains from telemedicine: study

Vehicular emissions are a major contributor to local pollution and global warming. In India, about 88% of the carbon dioxide emissions come from traffic. Across cities alone, over a threemonth period, the study found that teleconsultation led to 1,666 fe

study by researchers at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad, has found that around 7080% of people who visit an eye hospital can benefit from teleconsultations because their problems aren’t serious enough to require attention at a hospital. The study was published in the journal Eye.

Telemedicine has emerged as a viable alternative to inperson consultations with doctors in many contexts because it saves patients’ time and expenses, which can be considerable if they are located in remote areas and/or are not well to do. But as more people pick this option, another advantage is coming to the fore: lower emissions.

AFootprint of healthcare delivery

Studies in highincome countries have shown that telemedicine is a patientfriendly means of healthcare service delivery. It is also environmentfriendly.

It is relevant to India, where 70% of the population lives in villages. A hospital visit often requires expensive longdistance travel to urban centres, which have their own carbon footprint.

Vehicular emissions are a major contributor to local pollution and global warming. In India, about 88% of the carbon dioxide emissions come from road traffic. Across cities alone, over a threemonth period, the study found that teleconsultation led to 1,666 fewer kilometres of travel for patients and an average reduction of 176.6 kg of carbon dioxide emissions — figures the healthcare sector can’t afford to ignore.

According to one analysis, India’s healthcare sector emitted 74 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2014, or around 3% of India’s total emissions of the gas that year.

It is likely to have increased since: as the demand for health services increases, so too will the paradoxical harm to health due to their emissions.

“Every healthcare system should work towards carbon neutrality,” Padmaja Kumari Rani, the lead author of the study and network head of teleophthalmology at LVPEI, said. “Teleophthalmology is an efficient and effective tool that can help the eye health sector to achieve that goal.”

The teleophthalmology process

For the study, LVPEI researchers evaluated teleophthalmology, a specialised form of telemedicine that is customised for eye care.

In a teleophthalmology session, a patient remotely consults with an