Vulnerabilities
With the help of data from the Food and Drug Administration, the researchers identified 10,861 drug facilities that were active for at least one year between 2019 and 2024. These facilities represent the series of production stages of a drug, from analyzing raw drug materials, producing active ingredients to the packaging of medicine products. The researchers then looked at the provincial location of each of these facilities and whether there were a federal weather situations in those provinces in the period in those provinces. Weather -related emergency situations include that of fires, hurricanes, storms, tornados and floods.
During the six -year period, 6,819 facilities (63 percent) were confronted with at least one weather -related emergency situation. An average of 2,146 facilities (33 percent) experienced such an emergency per year.
The researchers noted that there was no statistically significant difference in the probability that provinces with or without a drug facility would experience a weather -related emergency situation. That is, it is not the case that drug facilities are built in areas that are uniquely vulnerable to climate -related disasters.
Yet, with a third of the American facilities that run the risk of weather disasters every year, the study clearly shows how it is loaded to have thin supply chains – such as having a single plant producing 60 percent of the supply of an essential medicine of the country.
“These findings underline the importance of acknowledging climate-related vulnerabilities and the urgent need for supply chain transparency, for strategic production of production and for disaster risk management strategies to prevent healthcare disruptions in the US,” conclude authors.
