SMP Programme Launch
The Sustainable Medicines Partnership includes 48 organisations collaborating to reduce the waste of medicines and the waste from medicines, to reduce emissions and increase health equity.
The Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), a not-for-profit, public-private, multi-stakeholder global action collaborative of 48 organisations has launched an ambitious 4 year programme at the Royal Society of Medicine.
The SMP includes leading pharma, generic and retail medicines manufacturers, distributors, supply chain, technology providers, healthcare, hospitals, pharmacy, researchers, academia, policymakers and changemakers.
Through the four year programme the SMP aims to build science-based, scalable, sustainable solutions to help reduce the waste of medicines and the waste from medicines - reducing healthcare emissions and increasing health equity globally.
Billions of safe, effective, usable, and much needed medicines are wasted annually, at huge financial and environmental cost and healthcare alone is responsible for over 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
In the UK, medicines account for 25% of NHS emissions and is a major focus of the NHS Net Zero strategy. Around the world, 50 health systems have made commitments to improve the sustainability of healthcare, and addressing medicines wastage will be crucial to their success.
The Sustainable Medicines Partnership was initiated by Dr Nazneen Rahman, CEO of YewMaker and SMP Director to develop science-based, scalable, sustainable solutions to these challenges.
“Every year we throw away billions of medicines that are safe to use and desperately needed, and most medicines packaging is not recycled. It is a huge waste of money and natural resources and a major contributor to healthcare’s greenhouse gas emissions.
We can make, distribute, and dispose of medicines more sustainably, but only through partnership, collective stewardship, commitment, and action.
I’m delighted 42 organisations from across the whole healthcare ecosystem have joined the SMP and are as passionate about delivering real change as we are. Together, the SMP will be developing practical, scalable solutions to make medicines more sustainable and equitable.”
Pillars of Sustainable Medicines
As a first step the SMP identified Six Pillars of Sustainable Medicines - foundational areas that must be addressed for the sustainability of medicines to be improved.
Measurable impacts – the carbon footprint of most medicines is not currently available, better metrics are needed.
End-to-end visibility – we need better tracking to know where and why medicines are being wasted.
Better shelf life – most medicines are safe and effective long after their ‘expiry’ date but currently must be destroyed.
Digital by default – billions of medicines information leaflets are destroyed each year. Most have never been read.
Every dose used – we need to redistribute unused medicines wherever possible.
Sustainable packaging – we need circular solutions to reduce single-use medicines packaging which is typically incinerated or sent to landfill.
SMP Strategy and Programme
The SMP is executing a four year Programme to deliver science-based, scalable concepts, frameworks, and data-driven solutions through integrated Projects that address the Pillars.
SMP roadmaps and actions are defined through Roundtable strategy discussions with multi-stakeholder representation from across the SMP.
Scalable Solutions
The SMP will be showcasing, developing, testing, refining, and scaling new and existing solutions that can help reduce the waste of medicines and from medicines.
Many have been developed by SMP Collaborators, sometimes in other contexts, and through the SMP their applicability to improve medicines sustainability and accessibility can be tested and scaled.
Over the next year SMP will be reporting on their first Pilot studies. Stay tuned!
Posted 05/10/22
-End
Contact:
For more information please contact comms@yewmaker.com
