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

Abstract

IntroductionGuidelines 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. MethodsIn 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. ResultsParticipants 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. DiscussionChanges 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. ConclusionThe aforementioned workshop underpins the strong interest to integrate planetary health aspects into guideline frameworks to eventually promote planetary health in clinical medicine.