The Medtech Europe Blog
Published October 10, 2012
By Momchil Jelev, WW Environment, Health & Safety, WW Government Affairs & Policy, Johnson & Johnson
When we speak about healthcare in Europe, the word ‘sustainability’ is used often. From the outset of the economic crisis in 2008, policymakers, ministries of health, customers and payers all have focused on sustainable financial systems and sustainable healthcare systems – often as separate paths to achieve results. As budgets are shrinking, innovative ways to maintain current social and healthcare systems for the long term must be employed. At CleanMed Europe, a conference that brings environmental and healthcare issues together on the same agenda, I was pleased to see that a broader alternative discussion is emerging—one that marries financial and systemic sustainability in healthcare.
This year, CleanMed returned to Europe for the first time since 2005. Johnson & Johnson were among the sponsors (which included SterilMed, Stryker, and BD) and were pleased to attend the conference hosted in Malmo, Sweden and talk with our customers and colleagues about how we are helping to make hospitals and healthcare more sustainable. We also shared a recently-published white paper based on recent findings which revealed that our customers across the globe have begun and will continue to demand more sustainable healthcare products.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS FROM CLEANMED 2012
I saw two main themes running through three days of workshops, debates, panels and informal chats – first, the ‘tactical’ aspects of bringing sustainability to healthcare; and second — the ‘systemic’ shifts required to meet the current and future challenges of healthcare and environment, while resolving the conundrums that challenge Europe’s healthcare and financial systems…