Explainer: Why Diabetes Prevention Is a Win for Both Patients and Planet

In an interview with Pharmacy Times, Niels Lund, MSc, MBA, vice president of Climate Change & Health at Novo Nordisk and study investigator, discussed findings from a collaborative analysis conducted through the Sustainable Markets Initiative demonstrating that preventing progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes (T2D) can meaningfully reduce health system greenhouse gas emissions while improving patient outcomes. The research evaluated clinical and environmental impacts across the diabetes care continuum, expanding traditional assessments of medication- and device-related emissions to include the broader “patient carbon footprint,” which reflects total resource utilization from diagnosis through long-term disease management and complications.

Lund explained that health care accounts for approximately 4% to 5% of global carbon emissions, with pharmaceuticals and medical technologies contributing roughly one-fourth of that burden. By modeling diabetes prevention and improved disease management in the United Kingdom, investigators found that preventing T2D could reduce emissions associated with complications by more than half, while optimized disease management alone could lower greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 21%. These reductions are driven by decreased need for resource-intensive care related to complications such as heart failure, kidney failure, and stroke.

For pharmacists, the findings reinforce the dual clinical and environmental value of preventive care and adherence support. Lund emphasized that preventing progression from prediabetes to T2D is associated with improved life expectancy—approximately 6 additional years—and fewer cardiometabolic complications. Importantly, these clinical gains translate into lower overall health system resource utilization and reduced environmental impact, even as patients live longer.

From a pharmacy practice perspective, Lund underscored the importance of reinforcing prevention strategies, supporting medication optimization, and engaging patients in long-term disease management. Pharmacists, as accessible health care professionals, are positioned to promote interventions that simultaneously improve population health outcomes and support sustainability goals within evolving value-based care frameworks.