We recently worked with Greg Buchert, M.D., a member of our Advisory Council, on an issue brief advocating for the decarbonization and digital transformation of the U.S. healthcare system. As a member of the Finance Workgroup for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), Dr. Buchert asked for our perspective on how the U.S. healthcare system could be made more resilient to the impacts of climate change and other climate-related events.
Naturally, we relied on conversations we have been having with our network for our #TechFlattensTheCurve initiative. The issue brief we submitted to NASEM is, therefore, a reflection of three fundamental observations we had in March and April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic burst into the global scene:
Firstly, that impact finance and manufacturing would be key in eliminating any global shortage in PPE supplies, especially in regions where supply chains are struggling to meet the human and economic effects of COVID-19;
Secondly, that technology transfer to advance UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 would need to be prioritized by both formal and informal stakeholders of the healthcare system and the social welfare safety net system in establishing a digital strategy for service delivery, especially screening; and
Thirdly, that social equity concerns would need to be mainstreamed in managing the pandemic if both impact finance and technology transfer communities were to maximize their social impact without their effort being eroded by the mislabel of being opportunists.
Click here to read the five-pager issue brief. We are told it will be included in some way in the upcoming cohort report on NASEM’s summer planning effort on developing decarbonization and climate resilience programs.