HDMA to work closely with officials in H1N1 response

ARLINGTON, Va. The Healthcare Distribution Management Association recently sent a letter detailing the critical role of primary healthcare distributor members in the response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic to more than 100 officials, including governors and state public health directors, the association announced Tuesday.

The association noted its distributor members’ commitment to working closely with the CDC, state and local public health officials, healthcare providers, pharmacists and manufacturers to ensure that millions of antivirals and medical products are delivered safely and efficiently to pharmacies, physicians’ offices and hospitals nationwide.

To facilitate the continuous flow of information between public health officials and HDMA distributor members, HDMA provided a list of state-specific distributor company contacts, informing state officials that HDMA members are prepared to answer questions related to emergency preparedness efforts.

“The H1N1 outbreak last spring underscored that communication is key to maximizing our country’s ability to respond to this public health emergency — across the entire healthcare supply chain, and especially with federal, state and local health officials,” stated John Gray, HDMA president and CEO. “HDMA members are working with all of these key players, to facilitate the safe and reliable delivery of needed vaccines, medicines and supplies to respond to the current influenza outbreak, as they have done for decades.”