The Nation's Medical Countermeasure Stockpile

Large catastrophic events, or rare acute events, may cause situations in which a local jurisdictiona (TM)s medicines and medical supplies are not sufficient to provide care to the population it serves. In these cases of natural or engineered disasters, such as a terrorist attack, influenza pandemic, or earthquake, state or local authorities can request that the federal government provide assets from the Strategic National Stockpile to augment the state and local jurisdictionsa (TM) resources. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventiona (TM)s (CDCa (TM)s) Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is the nationa (TM)s repository of antibiotics, chemical antidotes, antitoxins, vaccines, antiviral drugs, and other medical materiel designed to supplement and resupply state and local public health agencies in the event of an emergency. The materiel is intended to support national health security and is managed by the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Responsea (TM)s (OPHPRa (TM)s) Division of Strategic National Stockpile (DSNS). The stated mission of the SNS is to prepare and support partners and provide the right resources at the right time to secure the nationa (TM)s health. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine organized a two-day public workshop to explore opportunities to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainable methods used by the CDCa (TM)s SNS to distribute medical countermeasures and other supplies during disasters and other public health emergencies, especially those which result in disruption of physical infrastructure such as the electrical grid, central roadways, bridges, and tunnels within the impacted community. Participants explored relevant distribution lessons learned from other federal agency stockpiles and the private sector as well as opportunities to develop public-private collaborations in the purchase, warehousing, management, and distribution of medical countermeasures. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.