To be better prepared for future crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. shouldn't rely on replenishing its Strategic National Stockpile, but rather the stockpile should evolve to create better visibility into the supply chain, health experts told Bloomberg.
Stockpiling has to evolve to embrace modern-day logistics of supply and demand, Robert Kadlec, MD, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said. The future of the stockpile is about having "better visibility into the supply chain to know what's out there and what is available, and how do we respond in a way that is timely and effective," Dr. Kadlec told Bloomberg.
To increase visibility, the federal government could sign contracts with medical supply companies and pay them to share information on their supply chain, manage some of the stockpile's supplies and agree to assist them in future emergencies, Bloomberg reported.
The government could also implement a variety of financial incentives to increase domestic production of supplies and reduce the U.S.'s reliance on countries such as China. The government could require hospitals to purchase supplies from the U.S., providing a tax credit to healthcare facilities that buy personal protective equipment domestically and speeding the regulatory approval process for new manufacturers. The government could also incentivize healthcare facilities to give hospitals ongoing PPE data.
Read the full article here.