Sustainability Committee
According to the Lancet, climate change is the biggest threat to global health in the 21st century. Meanwhile, healthcare has a very significant carbon footprint world-wide, especially surgery. As YO-IFOS we would like to stimulate more sustainable ENT healthcare worldwide and we believe our large international network of motivated young otorhinolaryngologists can facilitate this. The goals of our committee are:
- To support international collaboration in the field of sustainability by creating an international network of green ambassadors, with an ambassador in every country. This will facilitate the journey towards sustainable ENT healthcare by sharing best practices, protocols, research findings, challenges faced etc.
- To set up projects in different focus areas, such as awareness, education, research and implementation (in collaboration of course with the other YO-IFOS committees).
- To organize online webinars on the topic.
- To embed sustainability in the scientific program of the next IFOS-conference.
- To decrease the carbon footprint of the next IFOS-conference, eventually aiming for a net-zero conference.
- and ultimately… to ensure that sustainability is in everyone’s DNA and incorporated in many of the decisions we make, leading to a generation of green ENT surgeons !
Please follow our LinkedIn page to receive updates on current projects and other useful insights on sustainable ENT healthcare :
Biographies
Tsung-yen Hsieh, MD is a double board-certified surgeon in facial plastic & reconstructive surgery and otolaryngology, and an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in the United States. Dr. Hsieh is dedicated to promoting sustainability and green initiatives in surgical care. He is working to develop and implement feasible strategies for sustainability on local, national, and international levels.
Maura Eggink is a last-years resident specializing in otology in Amsterdam University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. She has been on a green mission since 2021 and was a co-founder of the Dutch committee on sustainability (“de Groene KNO”). She is also a representative of the ENT society within the Dutch network of Green Operating Rooms. Her mission is to ensure that sustainability is incorporated in the many decisions we make as otorhinolaryngologists, creating a green generation of ENT surgeons.
Valentin Favier is an assistant professor in ENT, specialized in rhinology, obstructive sleep diseases and endoscopic skull base surgery in Montpellier, France. He is motivated to build a more sustainable surgical practice worldwide. Its objectives are to better inform health professionals for a quick awareness of climate issues; to provide practical recommendations and to carry out environmental impact studies to change practices.
Florent Carsuzaa, MD is an assistant professor at the University Hospital of Poitiers in France. Its clinical and research activity is mainly focused on rhinology and skull base surgery. He is working to develop strategies to improve the environmental impact of surgeries, and wishes to participate in training surgeons in simple actions to limit this environmental impact.
Neelu Tummala, MD is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is Co-Director for the Climate Health Institute at George Washington University with a special interest in public health communication and advocacy. She is on the Board for Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action, is a trained Climate Reality Leader, and is a co-founder of Surgeons for a Sustainable Future.
Laura Burton, MD is a ENT ENT Registrar at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, as well as Innovation and Leadership Fellow the Dragons Heart Institute, United Kingdom.
Nicolas LeClerc, MD is an ENT surgeon at the Head and Neck Surgery Department, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris, France.
Fiona Kabagenyia, MD is an ENT surgeon specialized in pediatric otorhinolaryngology in Kampala, Uganda.
Past work
Presentations
- Maura: presentation and moderator at IFOS conference, Dubai, January 2023, “Sustainability in ENT”, YO-IFOS track
- Maura: presentation “Sustainable ENT Healthcare in the Netherlands”, European Symposium on Pediatric Cochlear Implantation, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, June 2023
- Maura: presentation at regional otorhinolaryngology meeting September 2023, Antwerp, Belgium
- Maura: multiple presentations at Dutch ENT society meeting
Articles
- Maura: two articles in Dutch ENT society journal
- Valentin: “Teachers should apply the principle of reduction for more sustainable surgical simulation practice: the example of training pharyngolaryngeal surgery in a porcine model”, Payen et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1226475
Pending work
National projects
- The Netherlands: working towards green tonsillectomy
- Amsterdam UMC, the Netherlands: L-ESS waste project; reducing waste of endoscopic sinus surgery
International collaborations
- Life-cycle analysis of cochlear implantation (Jan-Willem Wasmann, Lukas Vargas)
Sources Articles:
- Recommendations for green anesthesia: 10.1097/ACO.0000000000001243
- Medical conferences and climate change: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001681
Website:
- Background information on sustainable healthcare: https://noharm-europe.org/
- Background information on sustainable healthcare: https://healthcareclimateaction.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/HCWH%20Road%20Map%20for%20Health%20Care%20Decarbonization%20-%20Introduction.pdf
- What can ENT surgeons do to lessen their footprint: https://www.enttoday.org/article/what-otolaryngologists-can-do-to-lessen-their-carbon-footprint/
- NHS glove awareness campaign https://www.rcn.org.uk/Get-Involved/Campaign-with-us/Glove-awareness
- IPCC report fact sheet climate change impact on health: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/outreach/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FactSheet_Health.pdf
- Sustainable travel tool: https://www.chronotrains.com/
Webinars:
