Risk-based allocation of COVID-19 personal protective equipment under supply shortages.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 outbreak put healthcare systems across the globe under immense pressure to meet the unprecedented demand for critical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE). The traditional cost-effective supply chain paradigm failed to respond to the increased demand, putting healthcare workers (HCW) at a much higher infection risk relative to the general population. Recognizing PPE shortages and high infection risk for HCWs, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends allocations based on ethical principles. In this paper, we model the infection risk for HCWs as a function of usage and use it as the basis for distribution planning that balances government procurement decisions, hospitals' PPE usage policies, and WHO ethical allocation guidelines. We propose an infection risk mo

SUBMITTER: Baloch G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10091728 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature