Medicines Security: From Supply Continuity to National Resilience
Why essential medicines must be governed as strategic infrastructure.
Executive argument
Medicines shortages are often treated as isolated procurement failures. In reality, they reveal the condition of a wider national system connecting science, manufacturing, regulation, logistics, capital, technology and public authority.
The strategic shift
A continuity model asks whether a product arrives. A resilience model asks whether institutions can anticipate exposure, absorb shocks, adapt operations and recover without unacceptable harm.
Policy priorities
Governments should identify critical medicines, map multi-tier dependencies, establish cross-government ownership, align procurement with resilience goals and exercise shortage scenarios.
Conclusion
Medicines security should be treated as a permanent national capability rather than an emergency project.
Medicines Security Institute (2026), Medicines Security: From Supply Continuity to National Resilience, MSI Strategic Papers, Paper 01.
Research and correction standard