Researchers at UHI North Highland’s Environmental Research Institute (ERI), with NHS Highland and the University of Nottingham, have been awarded a £100,000 Medical Research Council grant, working in partnership with the James Hutton Institute, Scottish Water, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and the University of Uppsala. The project will develop a framework for an eco-directed formulary that will incorporate environmental data on medicines into the prescribing process, alongside clinical and cost effectiveness. This is an innovation first in the UK – and a first step towards improvement of medicine prescribing in Scotland to reduce pharmaceutical pollution.
For more information, please visit the project page: https://ohbp.org/outputs/projects/developing-frameworks-for-eco-directed-sustainable-prescribing/
Pharmaceutical pollution is a well-recognised global public health and environmental issue. This can negatively impact the environment through water pollution and large carbon emissions – medicines contribute 25% of the NHS carbon footprint. It can also exacerbate the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through the environment.
Pharmaceuticals enter the water environment when people taking medicines go to the toilet (between 30-100% of a dose is excreted), and when partially used or expired medicines are inappropriately flushed down toilets/sinks instead of being returned to a pharmacy for proper disposal. Wastewater treatment facilities were not designed to remove such pollutants from wastewater, and medicines like antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and anti-depressants have been detected in rivers and lochs in Scotland (see report ‘Pharmaceuticals in the water environment: baseline assessment and recommendations’ ). Medicines have biological effects on our bodies and may have similar effects on aquatic life.
Each health board has a list of preferred prescribing choices for clinicians called a formulary. Currently these formularies consider patient safety, clinical effectiveness, and cost effectiveness, but they do not consider the environmental impact of a medicine.
With this funding, the research team and partners will adopt a novel, trans-disciplinary approach integrating public health, prescribing, environmental science, and social science methods and data. A framework will be developed to help decision makers take account of the environmental impact of a medicine, along with environmental monitoring data, excretion profiles, and wastewater information (e.g., how much gets removed during wastewater treatment). The framework will enable better informed and more sustainable prescribing choices, while at the same time ensuring the chosen medicines will result in the desired clinical outcomes.
This project builds on activity of the One Health Breakthrough Partnership (OHBP) – which ERI is a founding member, alongside NHS Highland, Scottish Water and SEPA. Researchers will use a novel visualisation tool launched by SEPA on behalf of the OHBP, which includes data on medicines detected in the Scottish water environment and NHS Scotland prescribing data. The tool was designed to help develop a better understanding of the link between medicine use and pharmaceutical pollution in the environment, and support activity to address this environmental issue.
This work is a first step towards improvement of medicine prescribing in Scotland to reduce pharmaceutical pollution. The research will generate new knowledge sharing and awareness of the environmental impact of medicines, and help develop new solutions to complex sustainability issues while benefitting the NHS, prescribers, patients, and the environment we rely on.
