The Fragile Flow of Critical Medicines: Rethinking Our Drug Supply Resilience
Every hospital shelf and pharmacy counter depends on an invisible global current, the pharmaceutical supply chain. Yet this lifeline for critical medicines is a dangerously thin, fragile network shaped as much by economics and geopolitics as by science, leaving both patients and national security vulnerable when that current falters.
Critical Medicines Are a Matter of National Security
There are approximately 288 critical medicines identified by national and international experts as indispensable for patient care; their absence causes immediate harm. The World Health Organization defines "indispensable" with respect to basic healthcare, while our FDA’s criteria are a bit broader. However, in both instances, these medications have no therapeutic substitutes, or delaying treatment can dramatically worsen outcomes.
Critical medicines are indispensable for patient care and have no therapeutic substitutes.
Author summary: Pharmaceutical supply chain is fragile and critical.
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