Dr James McKelvie with Medix 21's Camille Furnandiz and Julian Knaggs at the RANZCO NZ 2023 conference in Wellington

Wellington-based ophthalmic distribution company Medix 21 has teamed up with UK intraocular lens (IOL) manufacturer Rayner and Kiwi health intelligence company CatTrax to offset the carbon footprint of cataract surgery and discount the cost of Rayner IOLs for CatTrax users.

Called Medix21 Green, the programme is a commitment by Medix 21 to plant one native tree for each Rayner IOL used in New Zealand. To facilitate this, Medix 21 has partnered with Trees That Count, a New Zealand-based company which runs a CO₂ mitigation programme used by individuals, corporates and organisations to plant native trees across Aotearoa to offset their carbon footprints. “They tell us for every native tree that’s planted, over 50 years it mitigates 220kg of carbon dioxide,” said Medix 21’s Camille Furnandiz.

A study by Wellington-based ophthalmologist and head of RANZCO’s sustainability committee, Dr Jesse Gale, found the average carbon footprint for a cataract operation in New Zealand was 152kg CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent) – the same as a return flight between Auckland and Wellington. “So over the time of that tree’s life, you’re not only mitigating the IOL footprint, you’re mitigating the whole cataract surgery and more,” said Furnandiz.

CatTrax was designed to monitor the outcomes of cataract and other eye surgeries in New Zealand to improve the provision, delivery and quality of ophthalmic care. It does this by collecting and analysing a wealth of data from multiple sources connected to the patient’s surgical journey, providing a detailed clinical and demographic analysis to the eyecare practitioners and health providers involved, so they can reduce inefficiencies and improve patient care and outcomes. It is used by the former Hamilton and Lakes District Health Boards, with several other regions poised to use it as soon as CatTrax finalises details with Health NZ.

“CatTrax is all about improving patient outcomes,” said Hamilton-based ophthalmologist Dr James McKelvie, CEO and co-founder of CatTrax. “It’s not about promoting a particular product. We’re here to help clinicians measure outcomes by giving them the tools to evaluate the products they choose. But one of the really exciting things that Medix 21 has added to the mix is they’re not just looking at patient outcomes, they are looking at outcomes in a bigger sense, in terms of sustainability. It’s exciting they’ve come up with this innovative idea to help us achieve that, so we’re really excited to partner with them and get surgeons using their products and evaluating the outcomes.”

The fact that we now have a RANZCO sustainability committee shows how important a topic this is, he said. “We have to address it now… and this is a really simple way to get started that will probably offset your entire surgery, and we can help quantify that.”

Surgeons who sign up to Medix21 Green will also have a say in where their trees are planted, said Furnandiz, and once they’ve implanted 500 Rayner IOLs (and thus planted 500 native trees), they will also earn badges they can use for their own promotion, with marketing materials supplied by Trees That Count. “Plus, if they buy their Rayner lenses through CatTrax, they don’t just get a tree, they get a discounted rate compared to what they’d pay direct.” This means they can then share their data with CatTrax, so CatTrax can analyse and share it with those involved, she said.

Rayner has committed to reducing its own CO₂ greenhouse gas emissions by more than 800 tonnes by 2025, through improved manufacturing and packaging processes. Earlier this year, it also partnered with Evertreen, a UK-based organisation that plants trees all over the world, gifting each of its 577 employees two trees to plant in a reforestation project of their choice. The company is also working on other recycling initiatives, which Medix 21 hopes to roll out in the near future, said Furnandiz.