30 Mar 2026

Shellyza Moledina Sajwani

International Zero Waste Day, observed annually on March 30, highlights the importance of reducing waste and promoting sustainable consumption across all sectors, including health care. Pharmacists are increasingly recognised as important contributors to these efforts because of their central role in managing medicines throughout their lifecycle—from procurement and prescribing support to dispensing and disposal.  Globally, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) emphasised this responsibility in its 2023 policy on environmental sustainability within pharmacy, which calls on pharmacists to reduce pharmaceutical pollution, minimise waste, and support climate-resilient healthcare systems. The policy highlights how pharmacists can influence environmental outcomes through medicines optimisation, procurement practices and patient education.  Hospital pharmacists play a key role in reducing medication waste within clinical systems. Strategies include improving inventory management, facilitating safe reuse or redistribution programmes where permitted, and working with clinical teams on deprescribing when medications are no longer beneficial. Approaches such as clinically appropriate dose banding in oncology can also reduce partially used vials and unused cytotoxic medicines. In addition, pharmacists often collaborate with procurement teams to encourage manufacturers to improve packaging sustainability and reduce excessive materials. These measures can both reduce environmental impact and generate cost savings for health systems.  Community pharmacists also contribute by conducting medication reviews, adjusting dispensing quantities to better match patient needs and increasingly participating in social prescribing, which may reduce reliance on medications when appropriate. Medication take-back programmes can further prevent pharmaceutical contamination of landfills and waterways.  Education and advocacy are also advancing through nonprofit and professional networks such as Rx for Climate, Canadian Association of Pharmacy for the Environment, Pharmacy Declares in the UK and Pharmacists for Future in Australia. These groups support research, training, and policy advocacy to help pharmacists worldwide integrate environmental sustainability into everyday practice. 

Shellyza Sajwani is a pharmacist who works within areas of climate change, global health and oncology as they relate to the pharmacy profession. Shellyza received her MPharm from Aston University in the UK, her PharmD from the University of Toronto, her Climate Change and Health certification from Yale University and her Global Health Intensive Delivery Certification from Harvard University . She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa, where she supports incorporation of planetary health and pharmacy within the pharmacy curriculum. Shellyza co-chaired the FIP policy committee which passed the first policy statement discussing climate change and pharmacy in 2023. She serves as the national co-chair of the Canadian Association of Pharmacy for the Environment (CAPhE) which focuses on advocacy and education within planetary health and pharmacy. She also represented both the University of Ottawa and CAPhE at the United Nations COP29 and COP30 conferences in 2024 and 2025 Shellyza is currently the co-founder of Climaceutics Health Solutions which focuses on supporting pharmacies to reduce their emissions and improve their climate resilience. She has worked for ten years as an oncology pharmacist at the Ottawa Hospital, and co-chairs the Ottawa Hospital Pharmacy Environmental Committee. Finally, Shellyza has experience working as a previous co-president of Pharmacists Without Borders Canada from 2018 - 2021, as co-chair of Pharmacists Without Borders International from 2021 to 2024, and has received awards from the FIP, University of Toronto and Aston University for contribution to pharmacy practice.