Lifesaving medicines

Establishing career academies for health is crucial in ensuring we have a thriving health workforce, and partnerships are valuable in making this happen. Another challenge in global health care is the available supply of lifesaving drugs and medical supplies. There is a nationwide shortage of drugs impacting hospitals, pharmacies, and patients in Arkansas. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said there is a shortage of at least 14 cancer-fighting drugs.

Drug shortages are not only prevalent in the U.S., but are affecting communities globally. The National Institutes of Health states that not having the right medications can lead to prolonged recovery, postponement of surgery, complications, and death for patients. We must support our current and future health workforce by addressing these urgent problems.

Reducing the stockout rates of essential drugs is important to save people’s lives and ensure efficient frontline health-care delivery. The U.S. is making progress on this globally. The House Committee on Appropriations recently published its State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024, which included reducing stockouts of essential drugs and medical supplies, and for the U.S. Agency for International Development to report on stockout progress.

I encourage Sen. John Boozman, who sits on the Committee on Appropriations, to include the same language in the Senate version of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations bill. We must support our health workforce in Arkansas and globally by reducing stockout rates of lifesaving medications.

BRITTANY CHUE Springdale