Medicines shortages costs

Today, the hospital pharmacist is still mandated to control the supply chain, however there are challenges firom supply chain professionals supported by those who consider medicines to be no different firom any other commodity. Procurement now has to take place in an environment that has more and more budget restraints and external paralysing constraints induced by unwanted dependencies of third party suppliers and sometimes even drug shortages. If the skills are lost, important financial resources would be needed to reactivate lost know-how related to neglected technical equipment or outsourced activities. However, such time is not available in situations such as medicines shortages. Consequently, re-adaption may cost more than ever could have been saved. 

Judged in terms of the relationship of benefit to cost, vaccines are among the most socially valuable public health investments (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] 1999 Stratton, Durch, and Lawrence 2000)d In spite of some recent successes, such as increases in immunization rates in the United States (CDC 2002a, b, 2003), substantial structural and financial problems remain. In particular, the United States has recently experienced unprecedented shortages in 8 of the 11 routine childhood vaccines (Georges et al. 2003). Flu vaccine shortages were experienced in 2000-2002 and 2004 (Cohen 2002 Enserink 2004 Institute of Medicine 2004). 

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