An international comparison analysis of reserve and supply system for emergency medical supplies between China, the United States, Australia, and Canada

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic around the world. With the explosive growth of confirmed cases, emergency medical supplies are facing global shortage, which restricts the treatment of seriously ill patients and protection of medical staff. Taking China, the United States, Australia, and Canada as examples, this study compares and analyzes the reserve and supply systems of emergency medical supplies and problems exposed in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. Some common problems were found, such as insufficient types and quantities of emergency medical supplies in reserve, insufficient emergency production capacity, and imperfect command mechanism for emergency supplies deployment and transportation. A sound reserve system of emergency medical supplies is the basis and guarantee for dealing with public health emergencies such as major outbreaks. Based on the comparison of systems and practical experience, countries around the world should further improve the reserve and supply system of emergency medical supplies, and improve the coordination and cooperation mechanism for emergency supplies for international public health emergencies, so as to cope with increasingly severe public health emergencies in the context of globalization.