pandeemia tekitab igasuguste ravimite puuduse
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=34753
Pandemic Flu Could Cause Breakdown of Drug-Supply Chain[Jan 12, 2006]
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday examined how the drug-supply chain is "almost certain to break" in the event of a flu pandemic, which could cause the closing of drug factories and truck routes and lead to shortages of important medicines -- "quite apart from any shortages of medicine to treat the flu itself." The "very rules of capitalism that make the U.S. an ultra-efficient marketplace also make it exceptionally vulnerable in a pandemic," the Journal reports.
For example, many drugs are manufactured outside of the U.S. because of lower costs, while warehouses in the U.S. are generally kept nearly empty for efficiency reasons.
Many large hospitals stock only 30-day supplies of drugs because of costs and waste associated with stockpiling more, as well as drug manufacturing delays. According to the Journal, a supply-chain breakdown could cause the economy to "go into a tailspin" in the event of a pandemic flu, since "at the first sign of panic, all supplies disappear from shelves." To assist states and hospitals in bolstering medical preparedness, the federal government allocated $5 billion in grants over three years, but the money has been used toward priorities other than surge capacity at hospitals as well.
Comments
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said, "Most if not all of the medical products or protective-device companies in this country are operating almost at full capacity." He added, "That's the reality of today's economy -- just-in-time delivery with no surge capacity." Indiana-based emergency physician Michael Bishop said, "You can't plan for a surge capacity in an emergency room of 500 or 1,000 patients from the 20 you see in a day. Nobody could afford to do that. You can't have 10 doctors and 100 nurses sitting around waiting for something to happen" (Wysocki/Lueck, Wall Street Journal, 1/12).
jahah - ega eestis teisiti ole, nojah, selle erinevusega - et me ei tooda üldse midagi ja sõltume ainult sisseveetavatest ravimitest