Essential medicines lists in an era of escalating climate change

Brhlikova and colleagues say that more high income countries should consider having essential medicines lists.1 I surprise myself by agreeing with something that Donald Trump has proposed—that the United States should have an essential drug list and that all the medications should be produced in that country.I think the UK should have a similar approach. I say this not because of market protectionism, but rather to ensure continuity of healthcare in coming years. The ongoing fossil fuel approach of our government and economic structures makes it increasingly likely that global average temperatures will sail past the 1.5°C that scientists—and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—say puts us into increasingly risky areas of cascading tipping points. The ensuing unstable warming climate with have catastrophic effects across the globe and thereby also threaten complex supply chains.2Drug shortages not only threaten the health of patients but also put a burden on healthcare systems,…
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