The Health Care Industry Must Address Its Pollution Problem

In an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Shira Abeles, medical director of sustainability and infectious disease specialist at UC San Diego Health, argued that while health care in the United States primarily serves to treat diseases, it should also promote health. To help address the climate crisis, the health care industry must lead the way in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and rejecting chemicals of concern. Health care organizations in the U.S. produce approximately 14,000 tons of waste each day, of which an estimated 3,500 tons is plastic waste from single-use plastic products, which have a detrimental effect on human health.