Medical Supply Chains

Groups used to serving desperately poor nations now help US

U.S. charities that traditionally operate in countries stricken by war and natural disaster are now sending humanitarian aid to some of the wealthiest communities in America.

In this March 31, 2020 photo, a Samaritan's Purse crew erects privacy tents at a 68 bed emergency field hospital specially equipped with a respiratory unit in New York's Central Park, in New York. International charity groups which usually provide support to war-torn or impoverished countries are now sending humanitarian aid to some of the wealthiest places in the United States to help manage the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

More Medical Supply Chains Stories

Why was the United States left scrambling for critical medical equipment as the coronavirus swept the country? An investigation into the fragmented global medical supply chain and its deadly consequences. Streaming now.

Medical supply chains are the fragile lifelines between raw materials and manufacturers overseas, and health care workers on COVID-19 front lines in the U.S. As link after link broke, the system fell apart. This catastrophic collapse was one of the country’s most consequential failures to control the virus.