HDA Outlines Principles for Pandemic and Public Health Emergency Response

The Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) released policy principles reaffirming the pharmaceutical distribution industry’s commitment to assisting the country and frontline healthcare providers during pandemics and public health emergencies.HDA highlights four priority areas:

• Supply Chain Coordination: Coordination between the public and private sector is key to addressing public health crises. Accordingly, a consolidated contact within the federal government — to provide guidance to and interact with healthcare supply chain stakeholders — would assist in leveraging resources and expertise during emergencies.   
• Treatment and Vaccine Distribution: The federal government should provide detailed guidance to pharmaceutical distributors on how essential COVID-19 treatments and vaccines should be delivered, so the industry can ensure approved products are distributed as safely and expeditiously as possible. On June 10, HDA sent a letter to Dr. Robert Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to offer the distribution industry’s logistics infrastructure and expertise to help expedite and streamline efforts in this area. 
• Data Sharing: The continued ability for distributors to share accurate and timely information with federal and state governments regarding the availability of essential medicines and supplies should be prioritized during public health emergencies. 
• Supply Chain Production: While increasing American manufacturing is a worthwhile goal, policies related to the supply or sourcing of active pharmaceutical ingredients deserve thoughtful and careful discussion to avoid supply chain disruptions and potential price increases.    

“COVID-19 has shown America’s pharmaceutical supply chain, powered by HDA distributors, to be resilient,” said HDA President and CEO Chester “Chip” Davis, Jr. “Armed with significant logistics expertise and strong relationships across the healthcare ecosystem, pharmaceutical distributors are a vital partner in our country’s response efforts — and HDA members will continue to do whatever it takes, in coordination with the public sector, to ensure the delivery of critical medicines and supplies to healthcare providers and their patients.”For additional information and resources on pharmaceutical distributors’ response to COVID-19, visit www.hda.org/covid19.