March 2024 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 16-17
// CLIMATE //
Change is coming
Linking the climate-health nexus and collective responsibility
Solving the climate-health crisis is a collective duty, but it starts with helping individuals’ self-care.
Among the many important moments at COP28, one of the most significant was the inclusion of the conference’s first ever Health Day.
Seeing a global collection of health ministers come together to officially recognise the intrinsic link between the planet’s condition and humanity’s well-being should represent a true step change in how we approach global public health.
At the heart of the global climate crisis is a health crisis and there is now compelling evidence that the damage being wrought on the planet is directly impacting people’s health all over the world.
Intention to action
Just as with the transition away from fossil fuels, building a more sustainable health system requires strong, progressive leadership from governments.
We must therefore hope that the positive intentions found in initiatives like the UAE Climate and Health Declaration and the EU4Health programme now translate into specific actions that tackle the effects of climate change, especially in the most vulnerable and affected communities.
Yet this is a large and complex issue. It spans everything from research and development to manufacturing.
It includes the continuous assessment of how human health is impacted by the environment and how the provision of treatments can contribute to climate change through resource depletion – GHG emissions during production and the inclusion of single-use plastics in packaging.
In short, it’s a problem that requires diverse perspectives and influence, which means solving it cannot rest solely on the shoulders of politicians.
In the pharmaceutical sector, we are home to some of the most trailblazing scientists and business minds in the world.
By bringing them together, we can go further, faster in tackling climate change-related ill health – everything from exhaustion and heat stroke to kidney and heart disease and pregnancy complications – and deliver transformation at scale.
Furthermore, the industry’s combined understanding and experience of the drug creation and regulatory processes can help ensure vital treatments move quickly from the science lab, through approvals and into the hands of patients.
Power of partnership
These cross-industry collaborations are just as important to powering progress as the signature agreements made between nation states at events like COP.
And as co-chair of the Shared Care Collective, a new advisory board created for Sanofi’s Consumer Healthcare business unit (CHC), I am looking forward to playing an active role in that journey.
The Shared Care Collective was announced this past December, and features a multidisciplinary panel of experts in health, community and planet care who will now use their diverse knowledge and viewpoints to advance sustainability efforts across Sanofi’s CHC business.
Those experts include Patricia Dwyer, purpose and sustainability leader and Founder and Director of The Purpose Business.
‘The industry’s combined understanding and experience of the drug creation and regulatory processes can help ensure vital treatments move quickly’
Also, Michael Levine, Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer and Managing Counsel at Under Armour, Christopher Marquis, an award-winning author and Cambridge University professor and Solitaire Townsend, renowned sustainability expert and solutionist, and at Futerra.
The collective has a broad and holistic remit, helping shape everything from Sanofi’s decarbonisation plans to the ongoing roll out of B Corp certification throughout its whole business, which recognises organisations that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
Having achieved B Corp certification in North America last year, we were proud to announce the same certification in Italy, Germany and Hispanic Latin America in January, reflecting our continued commitment.
It will also support our mission to empower and bring health in the hands of people around the world, developing tangible, ground-level programmes that create meaningful change in people’s lives and the communities we serve.
Crucially, this is not about backing up what we already think we know.
Together with my co-chair, Alberto Hernandez, Global Chief Growth Officer of Sanofi Consumer Healthcare, we have deliberately brought together a passionate, creative and fiercely intelligent group of people who will sharpen our thinking, hold up a mirror to our actions and challenge our beliefs.
The health-climate crisis is complex and constantly evolving, which means it is no place for a status quo mindset. Patricia, Michael, Christopher and Solitaire (as well as any future members) will propose new ideas for our sustainability campaigns and hold the company to account on its goals.
Health in hands
The notion of placing health in the hands of people around the world and making healthcare as simple as it should be is pivotal.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital ubiquity and fast adoption by people of all ages in nearly every corner of the globe.
The new normal it created means many individuals now expect to take greater accountability for their health – from regular hand washing and mask wearing to looking after their mental wellness and managing minor and acute conditions.
For the millions of people earning a daily wage, the ability to self-treat a migraine, allergy, body pain or diarrhoea can be the difference between their family eating that day and not.
This shift towards more proactive self-care offers a huge opportunity for us to empower people to improve their lives (and livelihoods) for themselves, particularly in the global south where the effects of climate change can be most egregious.
As a company and an industry, we must work with governments and regulatory authorities to create an environment that equips individuals with the knowledge and confidence to safely take charge of their own well-being, while also expanding access to professional medical care when required.
Shared road
The road ahead is not straightforward – neither for the Shared Care Collective nor humanity as a whole.
The very nature of the environmental emergency is that it is constantly fluctuating and accelerating; meaning its impact on people’s well-being shifts too.
According to the World Health Organization, 37% of all heat-related deaths are caused by human-induced climate change while heat-related deaths among those aged over 65 have risen by 70% in two decades. In 2020, 98 million more people experienced food insecurity than the 1981–2010 average.
In other words, the link between the Earth’s well-being and our own does not simply exist, it is strengthening.
From the research lab to the policy table, the global healthcare system to local community clinics, we must unite in understanding and addressing it.
As Michael Levine puts it, “At its core, sustainability is about supporting human and planetary health and forging paths to help communities survive and thrive.”
We must never push the responsibility for solving the world’s climate-related healthcare challenges onto the shoulders of citizens alone.
But for many people, the path Michael highlights begins with the opportunity to take care of themselves – something Sanofi CHC takes seriously and acts upon.
Josephine Fubara is Chief Science Officer at Sanofi Consumer Healthcare.
Go to sanofi.com
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