Planetary health in medical guidelines – A workshop report from the conference of the evidence-based medicine network 2023

Introduction

Guidelines may play an important role in the process of adopting a planetary health perspective in clinical medicine. Current issues relating to the integration of planetary health aspects in guidelines were discussed during a workshop at the German Network for Evidence-Based Medicine conference in 2023.

Methods

In a multidisciplinary workshop, 25 persons with an interest in guideline development selected important planetary health dimensions that could be promptly included in guidelines. Group discussions addressed the challenges of integrating planetary health aspects in guidelines and feasible solutions.

Results

Participants recommended to first integrate the dimensions Environmental impacts, Prevention & co-benefits and Choosing wisely and provided corresponding rationales. Updating evidence to decision frameworks and including relevant climate outcomes (e.g., CO₂ equivalents) in clinical trials were regarded as crucial. Pragmatic steps to integrate planetary health aspects such as an adapted guideline layout and prioritization of recommendations were proposed.

Discussion

Changes in the guideline development processes are necessary to incorporate the planetary health perspective into guidelines. Capacity building for guideline developers and modifications to frameworks are important next steps. Public discussion and cooperation between guideline developing bodies are therefore essential to move beyond the results of this workshop.

Conclusion

The aforementioned workshop underpins the strong interest to integrate planetary health aspects into guideline frameworks to eventually promote planetary health in clinical medicine.