INTRAVENOUS FLUID MANUFACTURING FACILITIES AS CRITICAL PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE

To advocate that federal and state governments recognize intravenous fluid and associated supply manufacturing facilities as critical public health infrastructure.

Rationale

In the wake of hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico in 2017, there has been rising interest in examining drug shortages from a national security perspective. The vulnerability of drug manufacturing on the island of Puerto Rico underscored a need to more closely evaluate the potential impacts of natural disasters on drug manufacturing and the production of critical pharmaceutical supplies. The Department of Homeland Security’s list of key infrastructure includes public health infrastructure. ASHP advocates that public health infrastructure be defined to include manufacturing sites of intravenous fluids and associated supplies (i.e., components needed to administer intravenous fluids), and that those sites be afforded the same protections as other critical infrastructure. Such protections should include an evaluation of manufacturing vulnerabilities such as geographic location, vulnerability of surrounding infrastructure such as roads or ports, and whether the company has developed business continuity plans or redundancies in manufacturing. Entities deemed critical public health infrastructure should be required to make necessary changes to ensure that manufacturing is not at risk for a supply disruption.