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UAE – The Healthcare Group welcomes the proclamation of 2023 as the Year of Sustainability by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and believes it will promote the adoption of sustainable practices in hospitals and the healthcare sector.
Hospital and healthcare leaders say they’ve been looking upstream and targeting less resource use to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to green initiatives.
The announcement comes as the country prepares for this year’s global climate summit, COP28, to be held in Dubai Expo City from 30 November to 12 December.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a sustainable healthcare system as one that improves, maintains or restores health while minimizing negative impacts on the environment and taking advantage of opportunities to restore and enhance it for the benefit of the present and people health and well-being of future generations.
Welcoming the announcement, Dr Thumbay Moideen, Founder President, Thumbay Group said: “As a medical education and healthcare services group, we have been focused on maintaining a durable, resilient and sustainable healthcare system in response to the ongoing environment challenge.
“We also have a pilot tree planting project and it’s great to see how this initiative has improved the environmental impact of our services as well as patient wellbeing and teamwork,” added Dr Moideen.
Despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic, many healthcare groups continue to invest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and have minimized the environmental impact of their operations, implementing dedicated on-site programs to ensure reductions in greenhouse Air emissions and waste management.
NMC Healthcare Chief Executive (Interim) FRSA Mark Adams said that in health settings, social sustainability has been a top priority for hospitals and healthcare systems in relation to their ability to improve quality of life and improve community wellbeing,”
“We pioneered sustainability reporting in the region and started this journey with the release of our first set of ESG reports in 2018 and 2019,” Adams said.
Adds Adams: “Sustainability requires assessing systems, including infrastructure and organizational practices, and planning implementation measures against appropriate budgets, as healthcare organizations need to have reliable and resilient systems and processes from engineering to medical.”
In line with sustainable development practices, Aster Healthcare has incorporated 10 UNSDGs (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) into its ESG policy, including climate action. “We recently joined forces with 50 of the world’s largest companies to sign the Pledge to Action, an early voluntary commitment by companies to take steps to accommodate emerging climate policy engagement at the recently concluded COP27 summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, said Dr. Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare
“Beyond the organizational level, we are deeply involved in community outreach through our Aster Volunteer Program in India, the GCC and African countries. To monitor and promote our ESG commitments, we are forming a working group to bring any issues to the highest level, so that immediate action can be taken,” added Dr Moopen.
Welcoming the President’s initiative, John Sunil, CEO of Burjeel Holdings, said that the UAE places great importance on protecting the environment in its development policies.
“As a committed healthcare provider, we will continue to work towards bold sustainability goals, both in terms of the environment and in delivering accessible healthcare and social programs in our communities,” said Sunil.
“We are focused on improving our communities in meaningful ways through energy conservation, water management, waste management, reprocessing, and various social and charitable activities. We are very proud to support the UAE in achieving its national sustainable development goals,” Su Neil added.
Dr. Raza Siddiqui, Executive Director of RAK Hospital, emphasized that integrating sustainability into business operations and striving to improve environmental impact management is key to healthcare sustainability.
“Focus areas for healthcare sustainability include improving well-being to encourage preventive healthcare, thereby reducing environmental impact. Healthy buildings with more green space, more natural lighting, renewable energy and recycled resources will be more Adapt to climate change,” said Dr Siddiqui.
“Technology investments will increase health systems’ capacity and ability to support improved environmental and health outcomes. Demonstrating sustainability leadership will create opportunities for collaboration between the public and private sectors to continue and strengthen sustainability initiatives and achieve results , and work to reduce the carbon footprint,” added Dr Siddiqui.
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