How healthtech can reduce MENA’s healthcare emissions: Healthcare has one of the biggest carbon footprints globally — accounting for 4.4% of emissions worldwide — which would make it the fifth largest emitter of carbon were it a country, according to a report by sustainable development firm Arup and NGO Health Care Without Harm. In most developed countries, the industry accounts for nearly 10% of emissions, placing it ahead of aviation or shipping with the US, China, and the EU collectively accounting for over 56% of the planet’s climate footprint.

Where are all these emissions coming from? The industry is powered primarily by fossil fuels, and hospitals alone emit 2.5x more greenhouse gasses (GHG) than any other public sector buildings. The report finds that 71% of emissions come from energy use in healthcare’s supply chain including production, transport, and the disposal of goods and services. 17% of healthcare’s emissions come from healthcare facilities and associated vehicles, while indirect emissions via purchased energy, including electricity, steam, cooling, and heat make up 12%.

As a region, we are most affected by climate change: Although MENA is not a top emitter when it comes to healthcare, the region is disproportionately affected by climate change, with up to two in three deaths from heat attributable to global warming — compared to the global average of one in three.

And the impact of climate-induced health problems will rise: As countries increase healthcare spending in the wake of climate-induced health problems, the carbon footprint of the healthcare sectors, although Arup reports “significant data gaps” global healthcare’s supply chain, and the footprints of anesthetic gasses and metered dose inhalers, as well as in national estimates of the sector’s emissions — particularly for countries of the global south. It also calls for a better understanding of the trajectory of healthcare emissions.

Enter healthtech: Healthtech includes all direct or indirect digital services that service patients, including telemedicine, remote monitoring, home testing, and surgical robotics. Healthtech is impact-driven, it can facilitate access to healthcare in remote areas, CEO of healthcare impact investment fund Elevate Capital Tarek Moharram tells us, and primary prevention can reduce healthcare-related disease. Amin Elhemaily, founder and CEO of Esteshara, tells us that healthtech players have a vision to transform healthcare from “sickcare” through the facilitation of early detection and prevention services.

ESG compliance and incentives can also slash emissions: Moharram and Elhemaily say increased adoption of ESG regulations — which mandate that publicly listed companies report their environmental impact, including carbon footprint, waste management, water, and energy consumption and environmental protections — can create awareness within the sector about its environmental impact. Moharram, whose firm invests in healthcare and mandates ESG compliance, tells us that as impact investors pour funds into the sector, setting ESG KPIs will be key to creating a long-term sustainability framework. He notes that compliance — which can be a burden for startups with scant resources — can be further encouraged and enforced through subsidized financing and incentives.

Supply chain, waste management and energy consumption are low-hanging fruit: Despite a lack of data regarding the sector’s emissions in MENA, Moharram and Elhemaily point to supply chain and energy consumption as top sources of emissions. Although Africa currently has the lowest healthcare-related emissions due to its under-development, the continent has an opportunity to “leapfrog” the west’s carbon heavy development phase and move towards designing greener, more sustainable economies that adhere to environmental standards, Moharram notes.

And measures can be taken to sweeten the pot: Incentives are key to ensuring that hospitals and healthcare providers are built and operated with the latest compliance guidelines in mind, Moharram adds. While a handful of startups are working in medical waste disposal, current policy frameworks do not offer clear guidelines for local companies and hospitals on how to dispose of medical waste and equipment, Elhemaily tells us. Waste management companies have a good opportunity to introduce circular waste management practices to the sector, provided that there is enough incentives and investment, CEO of healthtech startup Yodawy Karim Khashaba adds, and incentivizing hospitals to switch to renewable energy will require structural, policy-level incentives.

There’s efforts being undertaken in the UAE: Emirati medical vehicle manufacturer Naffco showcased its electric ambulance at the Arab Health 2023 conference in January and Schneider Electric partnered with Microsoft and Emirates Health Services to launch a digital twin solution — EcoStruxture™for Healthcare — to improve operational performance and improve energy efficiency by up to 30% for hospitals in the country. Beeah’s medical waste management service Wekaya is training UAE healthcare workers in best practices for medical waste disposal as well as providing hazardous and medical waste management services in the form of treatment facilities and consulting.

And the regional healthtech industry is attracting big money: Investments in healthtech digital infrastructure are expected to rise from USD 500 mn to USD 1.2 bn in the next two years in the GCC, with 80% of funding coming from domestic VCs, a report by Dealroom found. A McKinsey report estimates that digital healthcare services in Saudi Arabia and the UAE alone could reach USD 4 bn by 2026. The five top healthtech startups in MENA attracted over USD 70 mn total funding in the past seven years — though that number excludes startups that were acquired, merged, or went public, according to a Forbes report. Despite increased investments, the sector remains relatively small with only a handful of platforms acknowledged as healthtech players in the region, Khashaba tells us. Moharram points to the regulatory environment for healthtech as lagging behind, making it challenging for e-pharma or telemedicine to pick up pace.

Could we see a resurgence of interest at COP28? The Alliance for Transformative Action onClimate and Health launched at COP26 with the aim to support countries develop climate resilient and low-carbon sustainable health systems. The COP26 Health Program will conduct climate change and health vulnerability assessments and develop national adaptation plans for health, as well as set target dates to achieve net zero emissions and develop a roadmap to achieve low-carbon health systems. 50 countries have joined the program including Bahrain, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen. As of COP27, 62 countries had committed to build climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems and 22 set a target to reach net-zero from their health systems before 2050.

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