Inhaler Prescribing – Carbon Footprint

The asthma inhaler patient decision aid published by NICE last year includes important information about the different carbon footprints of available devices – and highlights the fact that a typical metered dose aerosol inhaler (MDI) has a carbon footprint that is roughly TWENTY-FIVE times as big as that of a typical dry powder inhaler.

The annual carbon footprint of primary care in the north of England could be reduced by around 45,000 metric tonnes if one half of all patients prescribed MDIs by GP organisations linked to NECS MO during 2019 received DPIs during 2020 – equivalent to well over THREE HUNDRED flights from London to New York.