Starting October 29, the National Public Health Unit in Costa Rica has progressively implemented an environmental pilot program, which is to replace disposable plastic bags with paper bags when delivering medicines to patients.
The Costa Rican Social Security Fund, which manages the National Public Health agency, is reported to have explained that the pilot program has been implemented at the Calderon-LaGuardia Hospital in one of the most important hospitals in the country, as well as in the suburbs of Coronado, San Jose province and in the outskirts of Atillo town.
In a statement, the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, the National Medical Service Coordinator, said the move aims to reduce the environmental impact of the health sector by controlling the carbon footprint.
Official figures show that the National Public Health Unit of Costa Rica consumes an average of 400 million plastic bags a year to package medicines for patients, and in 2017 all medical institutions administered by the Costa Rican Social Security Fund issued about 84.7 million prescriptions.
The Costa Rican Social Security Fund points out that the use of paper bags instead of disposable plastic bags, in addition to being more environmentally friendly, can better protect their privacy when delivering medicines to patients.
In addition, the International medical administration will require more drug suppliers to use cartons to provide drugs, which will help protect the environment and reduce labor costs in terms of packaging. Public hospital in Costa Rica discarded plastic bags | Implementing Green Healthcare