Supporting international initiatives; carbon zero heroes

Canon Medical Systems are proud to be known as the Carbon Zero Heroes of the medical imaging industry. Thousands of people are helped in developing nations, at the same time as UK patients reap the benefits of innovative medical diagnostic systems, as every purchase of our medical equipment help those in some of the poorest parts of the world.

We have offset carbon dioxide (CO2) from Ultrasound, X-ray, CT and MRI systems installed into UK hospitals over the past 5 years. To date, the scheme means that more than 25,172 people, including 14,361 children, in rural Uganda and Kenya have received practical help to improve mortality, health, quality of life and female empowerment.

The carbon footprint of our CT, MR, Xray and Ultrasound systems has been calculated. This takes into account the elements involved in manufacture, packaging, shipping and average energy usage for the standard lifetime of a system. Each month, UK sales figures are translated into tonnes of carbon and offset to a high impact project in a developing country.

For example, a Canon Medical 1.5T MRI system has a carbon offset footprint of 226.78 tonnes which then helps 245 people in Kenya and Uganda via cooking stoves and water borehole projects. Cooking on open stoves is a big health issue in developing nations with World Health Organisation figures stating that there are 3.8 million premature deaths per year from non-communicable diseases such as stroke, ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.

“There isn’t just enough fuel out there. I have to say that the stove has helped us to utilize every little available fuel. The stove works well with them. I am happy to say that never before had I seen a project done in a free and fair manner like this, we accept it and are proud to have been selected as beneficiaries. We wish that everyone benefits”.
Alice Awino Otieno

How each of our machines could help African communities

Per MRI 1.5T System sold:

306.31 tonnes of CO2 offset
342 people positively impacted in Africa

Per CT Scanner sold:

77.46 tonnes of CO2 offset
342 people positively impacted in Africa

Per Aplio i-Series Ultrasound System sold:

5.47 tonnes of CO2 offset
7 people positively impacted in Africa

Per X-Ray System sold:

81.33 tonnes of CO2 offset
91 people positively impacted in Africa

The Carbon offsetting scheme in the UK has helped Canon Medical Systems in the UK achieve Carbon neutrality today, whilst innovation for the future focuses on making the solutions more efficient.