Page 21 - ASPIRE JANUARY 2023 Volume 8 / Issue 1

TAIWAN
Historic commitment to
2040 ‘net zero’ hospitals
in consensus response
to climate change risks
By Professor Ming-Jer Chen Country Representative
Taiwan’s first net-zero emission consensus in the medical field has been born.
Three major medical bodies – the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (TAOG), the Taiwan Association for Minimally Invasive Gynaecology (TAMIG) and the Asia-Pacific Association for Gynaecologic Endoscopy and Minimally Invasive Therapy (APAGE) – have called for “2040 net zero hospitals.”
In September, they held a press conference with legislators Cai Biru and Hong Shenhanon declaring the commitment to “save the patient with the scalpel blade, save the earth with the scalpel back.”
They said the use of desflurane, an anaesthetic gas commonly used in surgery, was equivalent in carbon emissions of a fuel car driving 200 to 400 kilometres.
In addition to saving lives through their daily practice, doctors have been urged to think about the living environment of “future people.”
At the press conference, the three organisations put forward a net-zero emission statement, a first amongmajor Taiwanese medical societies.
The statement will also cover 21 APAGE member countries including the United States, Australia, China, Japan, and South Korea.
Ming-Jer Chen, Immediate Past President of the Taiwanese Society for Reproductive Medicine, said
Ming-Jer Chen
climate change was harmful to reproductive health causing:
• a decline in sperm count and motility;
• premature aging of the ovaries;
• increased chances of miscarriage and premature birth; and
• placental disorders during pregnancy, with potential adverse impacts on the foetus.
He said the hazards of climate change would be passed on from generation to generation.
Net zero emissions unity among major medical associations in Taiwan
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