Ophthalmology can lead the way in Climate-Smart Healthcare

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Green vision: how Ophthalmology can lead the way in Climate-Smart Healthcare

By Muskaan Khepla // December 2025

A recap of the “Green Vision: Eye Care in the Era of Planetary Health” webinar hosted by SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI) and Singapore Eye Centre (SNEC).

Climate change is rewriting the story of healthcare

Climate change is transforming healthcare by disrupting access, worsening inequities, and challenging how care is delivered. In this evolving landscape, ophthalmology, one of the highest-volume surgical specialty in the world, has both a responsibility as well as an opportunity to lead the shift to low-carbon, climate-resilient practices. This theme drove the “Green Vision: Eye Care in the Era of Planetary Health” webinar on 19 November 2025, hosted by the Planetary Health Programme of the SDGHI and SNEC.

Opening the session, Associate Professor Renzo Guinto, lead of the Planetary Health Programme, reminded participants that healthcare contributes around five percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and nearly seven percent in Singapore. Against the backdrop of COP30 and growing momentum toward climate-smart health systems, he asked: How can eye care become both low-carbon and climate-resilient without compromising patient outcomes?

What followed was a rich conversation featuring speakers from India, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, with each speaker bringing their own practical experience and vision for a more sustainable future for ophthalmology.

Associate Professor Renzo Guinto giving opening remarks in the webinar held on 19 November 2025

India: Sustainability through smart, patient-focused design

Dr. R. Venkatesh from India’s Aravind Eye Care System showed how going green isn’t bolted on – it’s integrated into how they run things, thanks to their patient-first thinking.

Their widespread vision centers mean fewer long trips for patients. One-and-done cataract surgery skips extra visits, cutting hundreds of tons of carbon yearly. Solar energy powers their Pondicherry hospital mostly now, and careful waste sorting keeps biomedical trash to a minimum. To top it off, they have achieved exceptionally low postoperative infection rates, proving their cost-effective, sustainable model maintain the highest standards of clinical excellence.

He ended his presentation with a powerful statement: “Put patients at the center, and the planet benefits too.” It proves efficiency, reach, and eco-friendliness feed into each other.

Dr. R. Venkatesh showcasing how Aravind Eye Care integrates sustainability into daily operations

Australia: Greener care means better care

Dr. Yee Ling Wong from Australia also positioned sustainability as a direct benefit to patient care. She highlighted Sequential Bilateral Cataract Surgery – treating both eyes in a single session – which reduces patient travel emissions by 50% while delivering equivalent clinical outcomes.

She also advocated for later treatments and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, which eliminate the need for prolonger daily eye-drop regimens. These approaches minimize waste, enhance patient convenience, and yield sustainable long-term benefits. In her view, sustainable practices frequently elevate care quality across a patient’s lifetime, without necessitating compromises.

Dr. Yee Ling Wong sharing insights on key areas within ophthalmology where sustainability can be enhanced

UK: Sparking change from the bottom up

Dr. Radhika Rampat, from the NHS and ACOS Green Working Group, focused on real change through people power. She emphasized on the importance of dedicated sustainability champions in clinics and operating theatres. These individuals are crucial to identify opportunities, mobilize teams, and implement structured quality-improvement initiatives.

Her examples included onsite visits to recycling facilities, streamlining drug handling, and the transition from single dose to multidose eye drops, dropping plastic usage by 90% and generating annual savings of hundreds of thousands of pounds for hospitals. She concluded her presentation by highlighting incremental, evidence-based changes, supported by team engagement, can rapidly cultivate a sustainability culture within an institution.

Dr. Radhika Rampat shedding light on how cultivating a sustainability culture within the institute helped them save thousands of pounds per year

Singapore: From grassroots efforts to institutional transformation

Bringing the conversation back to Singapore, Dr. Rahat Hussain from SNEC shared the evolution of the SNEC Green Committee from a pair of enthusiastic clinicians into a multidisciplinary force driving cultural and operational change. Their initiatives span every corner of the center – from reusable operating theatre packs and digital consent forms to campus-wide recycling stations, energy-efficient infrastructure, and campaigns promoting reusable mugs and reduced single-use plastics.

Despite the success achieved by these initiatives, Dr. Hussain also acknowledged the challenges that come with system-wide change: navigating procurement rules, ensuring patient safety when adopting reuse practices, and shifting to long-standing staff behaviors. He noted that aligning initiatives with broader institution wide sustainability strategies requires patience, perseverance, and collaboration.

His honest reflections about the successes and challenges emphasized that integrating sustainability within your operations is never about quick fixes but building a lasting mindset and change.

Dr. Rahat Hussain sharing sustainability initiatives adopted within SNEC

Common ground and a brighter outlook

Across all speakers, similar themes seemed to emerge. Each clinician had begun their sustainability journey by noticing inefficiencies, questioning everyday practices, or learning from other institutions’ successes. All speakers agreed that patient-centered care naturally leads to lower emissions. Reducing unnecessary travel, revisits, and green interventions not only benefits environment, but also strengthens patient experience.

There was also strong consensus on involving patients themselves. Whether it was through community-based models like Aravind’s vision centers or simple educational materials placed in clinics, empowering patients amplifies the impact of sustainability efforts.

The event ended strong with all the speakers agreeing that delivering effective eye care isn’t just fixing vision, it is also about protecting the planet patients live in. The shared optimism was visible: the time to act and change is now, and meaningful change can begin by consistent, inclusive steps within your departments and institutions.

Watch the full webinar here.

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