Impact pathways: improving medicine access through cross-national stockpiling
本文论证跨国储备是缓解药品短缺的重要机会，通过分析欧盟12国短缺数据、实践报告和学术文献，指出运营与供应链管理研究可帮助改善药品短期和长期获取，并提出了未来研究方向。
Purpose Pressure to address drug shortages is increasing, and calls for cross-national stockpiling solutions are on the rise. This paper argues that cross-national stockpiling presents an important opportunity for operations and supply chain management (OSCM) research to help improve medicine access in the short- and long-term. Design/methodology/approach To substantiate our claims for future research, we conducted an empirical analysis of shortage co-occurrence on twelve EU member-states, reviewed practice reports and academic literature, and held extensive discussions with pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders. Findings We show that the potential for cross-national stockpiling is unmistakably there and that, although OSCM research has touched upon important facets of cross-national stockpiling, many open questions still require novel research. Originality/value We present opportunities for impactful research along various dimensions, including understanding barriers and stakeholder behavior, quantifying cost-effectiveness and potential knock-on effects, analyzing the positive and negative implications of product standardization and determining novel equitable mechanisms for allocation and financing cross-national stockpiles.