
03/12/2023
Climate change poses a major threat to our health and planet. The NHS has a "greener agenda" to reduce carbon emissions. One of the main medications contributing to these emissions are inhalers, where emissions occur during use. Inhalers are important for the treatment of lung conditions such as asthma and COPD but when not used optimally can result in poor disease control and avoidable deaths.
Metered-dose inhalers (MDIs) contain a propellant gas, which is responsible for most of these emissions. Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) have a lower carbon footprint as they do not contain gases, they can also be more effective in controlling lung disease by getting more of the medication down to your lungs.
The De Parys Group is dedicated to contributing to environmental change by supporting patients to switch from MDIs to DPIs where appropriate as well as empowering our patients to help this agenda. This switch is not part of a cost saving exercise, as these devices are usually more expensive.
More information to help support your learning can be found on https://greeninhaler.org/, https://bit.ly/3T90yTn and https://bit.ly/3fSys0h https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng80/resources/asthma-inhalers-and-climate-change-patient-decision-aid-pdf-6727144573.