In his inaugural lecture, “Individual vs. Collective,” Professor Wouter Hehenkamp, Chair of Efficient and Sustainable Healthcare at Amsterdam UMC, calls for a paradigm shift in the way we approach healthcare. He stresses that the healthcare sector is responsible for over 7% of CO2 emissions in the Netherlands and argues that both healthcare providers and patients must play a pivotal role in making healthcare more sustainable.
Hehenkamp, who is affiliated with our research institute, emphasizes that the focus should not only be on reducing environmental impact but also on rethinking what is considered "appropriate care." He believes that, as a society, we need to set new boundaries for what can be offered, recognizing that it is no longer feasible to provide everything to everyone.
A central part of Hehenkamp’s research involves using life cycle analysis (LCA) to assess the environmental impact of healthcare processes. By incorporating this data into treatment decisions, Hehenkamp envisions a system where patients are not only informed about the effectiveness of treatments but also their environmental cost. This approach, he believes, will allow both patients and healthcare providers to make more sustainable choices. He also challenges the commercialization of new treatments, arguing that many are marketed without sufficient evidence of their effectiveness, while also contributing significantly to environmental damage. His work calls for a more balanced approach to innovation, with greater oversight and collaboration among healthcare stakeholders.
To read the full article, visit the original post on the Amsterdam UMC Intranet (in Dutch and for staff only).