Medications account for a substantial share of healthcare-related greenhouse gas emissions; however, their environmental impact on primary care remains poorly understood. At the 30th WONCA Europe Conference 2026, one of the first estimates of the carbon footprint of medications prescribed by general practitioners was presented, providing data that could help inform more sustainable prescribing practices.

No previous study has quantified the environmental impact of medication prescribing in general practice. Researchers have now addressed this gap with findings presented by Morgane Bulté, MD, from the Department of General Practice, University of Rouen Normandy, and Charlotte Siefridt, MD, PhD, university lecturer in general medicine at the University of Rouen Normandy, Rouen, France.

Siefridt supervised Bulté’s thesis, which examined greenhouse gas emissions associated with medications prescribed by general practitioners in Normandy.

“Why this topic? The healthcare sector accounts for about 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions in France, and medications make up a significant share of those emissions. Although data are available on the carbon footprint of general practice, information on the environmental impact of prescribed medications remains limited and difficult to obtain,” Siefridt said.

Emissions Estimate

To address this gap, Bulté conducted a descriptive quantitative study using the Primage Normandie health data warehouse to estimate greenhouse gas emissions associated with prescription drugs. She collaborated with Ecovamed, a French company specializing in assessing the environmental impact of healthcare products, particularly their carbon footprint.

“Ecovamed has developed a tool that estimates emissions across the entire life cycle of a medication, from raw material extraction and manufacturing to patient use and disposal,” Bulté said.

In 2022, the Primage database recorded 151,179 consultations and 326,000 prescriptions covering 3335 medications. Of these, 2038 were solid oral dosage forms, representing 181,354 prescriptions.

The total greenhouse gas emissions associated with prescribing in 2022 were estimated at 257,101 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) for 61 general practitioners.

“On average, this corresponds to 4215 kg of CO₂e standardized per medical professional, roughly equivalent to driving more than 29,000 km by car or taking 2.4 round-trip flights between Paris and New York. Each consultation was therefore associated with approximately 1.7 kg of CO₂e from medication prescribing,” Bulté said.

Bulté also questioned the monetary emission factor used in the 2023 report of the Shift Project.

“The Shift Project’s 2023 report uses a monetary emission factor of 500 g of CO₂e/€100 spent on medications. Although this approach is useful for broad estimates, it is not sufficiently precise for detailed analysis. It is also outdated and has not been adjusted for inflation. Using Ecovamed’s methodology, we estimated the emissions to be 4215 kg CO₂e/primary care physician in Normandy in 2022. Applying the monetary emission factor would have produced an estimate of approximately 10,512 kg CO₂e/physician, about 60% higher.”

Study Limits

Using data from PRIMEGE Normandie allowed researchers to base their analysis on medication prescriptions issued in routine clinical practice.

However, the study had several limitations. Only solid oral dosage forms, accounting for approximately 61% of all prescriptions, were included, excluding many commonly prescribed medications.

“Furthermore, the life cycle assessment conducted by Ecovamed is time-consuming and considers only greenhouse gas emissions, without incorporating other environmental impacts, such as water pollution, resource depletion, or toxicity,” Bulté said.

Practical Guidance

Despite these limitations, the findings were used to develop an eco-prescribing fact sheet intended to support environmentally sustainable prescriptions.

“It is based on four key principles: Prescribing more appropriately, prescribing less, reducing environmental contamination associated with medications, and considering the carbon footprint of prescriptions,” concluded Siefridt.

This story was translated from Univadis France, part of the Medscape Professional Network.