Downed Chinese balloon could affect US medical supply chain

After the US shot down a “high-altitude object” hovering over Alaskan waters on Feb. 10 and a confirmed Chinese spy balloon the week before, it’s unclear what these actions mean for the US-China medical supplies supply chain.

Some domestic medical supply companies are already phasing out medical supplies made in China, but 32 percent of the world’s antibiotic supply is made in China, according to the US-China Business Council. In terms of location of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in the US, 28 percent are located in the US, 26 percent in the European Union, 18 percent in India, 13 percent in China, 2 percent in Canada, and 13 percent in other countries. FDA data for 2019.

“The China balloon incident is a canary in a coal mine for the US healthcare industry,” said Tinglong Dai, Ph.D., professor of operations management and business intelligence at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Becker. “Our hyper-globalized supply chains leave us vulnerable to any geopolitical disruption. It’s time for healthcare leaders to take a close look at their supply chains and invest in reshoring, near-shoring and friend-shoring to build a more diversified and secure system. A sustainable supply chain is the cornerstone of a strong healthcare system, and neglecting it is tantamount to leaving the foundation of a building unprotected – it may seem stable for a while, but a sudden failure can cause the entire structure to collapse. act.”

In conclusion dated 7 February for Hillnational policy adviser Jeremy Gurevich wrote that current U.S. policy is beginning “a Cold War-like state of competition with China.” […] with new restrictions on semiconductors and other advanced manufacturing.”

“On the business side, US companies are increasingly separating their supply chains from China to better manage the risks of this new era,” he wrote. “In the coming months, we will see more examples of such policies from both government and business.”

Both American Journal of Managed Care and the Center for Research and Policy on Infectious Diseases has written posts about the potential impact of rising international tensions on the medical supply chain.

Content Source

California Press News – Latest News:
Los Angeles Local News || Bay Area Local News || California News || Lifestyle News || National news || Travel News || Health News

Related Articles

Back to top button