The Inclusion of Comparative Environmental Impact in Health Technology Assessment: Practical Barriers and Unintended Consequences

As health sector professionals, scientists and academics, we recognise that the health sector must contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-reduction targets. Audits of the health sector show that, in addition to the “usual suspects” (power, transport and waste), anaesthetic gases and propellants in metered dose inhalers are contributors to health sector GHG emissions [1, 2]. Furthermore, health services and technologies differ in their GHG profiles, therefore decisions between options can have implications for the health sector’s GHG emissions.