A medicine stock-out is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “any time when, at a defined moment in a given inventory, a needed medicine item is not in stock and orders or prescriptions cannot be filled.” The WHO has published a set of indicators for use in optimising the management of pharmaceutical stocks, in order to avoid stock-outs and the related but separate problem of overstocking. There is some evidence that use of the WHO’s indicators can help avoid these problems. The operational definition of a drug shortage that my colleagues and I published two years ago12 included a range of methods for avoiding or dealing with shortages, tailored to the individual causes. The causes of drug shortages are complex, and there are many possible solutions. When they can be predicted it may be possible to mitigate them. For example, if a manufacturer plans to cease production for any reason, an advertised lead-in time will give the opportunity for a replacement to be made available, by obtaining or synthesising new stocks of the drug itself or instead by making available a suitable substitute, such as a me-too product or a biosimilar. When a shortage is not predicted other solutions may be required, and everyone in the supply chain is involved in anticipating and managing shortages, with responsibilities for preventing them or at least trying to mitigate their effects. This includes manufacturers and suppliers, particularly of generic formulations, pharmacists, prescribers, patients, and governments. Many solutions have been proposed and are listed in our previous review.2 A drug stock-out denotes the complete absence of a medicine from the shelves of any outlet that would be expected to stock it, typically a pharmacy. It has been variously defined as an inability of a pharmacy to deliver a drug …

中文翻译：

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当我使用一个词时......避免药品缺货

世界卫生组织 （WHO） 将药品缺货定义为“在给定库存的指定时刻，所需药品没有库存且订单或处方无法满足的任何时间”。WHO 发布了一套用于优化药品库存管理的指标，以避免缺货和相关但独立的库存积压问题。有一些证据表明，使用 WHO 的指标可以帮助避免这些问题。两年前，我和我的同事们公布了药物短缺的作定义 12，其中包括一系列针对个别原因量身定制的避免或处理短缺的方法。药物短缺的原因很复杂，有很多可能的解决方案。当它们可以预测时，就有可能减轻它们。例如，如果制造商因任何原因计划停止生产，则公布的导入时间将提供替代品的机会，方法是获取或合成药物本身的新库存，或者通过提供合适的替代品，例如仿制产品或生物仿制药。当无法预测短缺时，可能需要其他解决方案，供应链中的每个人都参与预测和管理短缺，有责任防止短缺或至少尝试减轻其影响。这包括制造商和供应商，特别是仿制药、药剂师、处方者、患者和政府。已经提出了许多解决方案，并在我们之前的评论中列出。药品缺货是指任何预计会备货的商店（通常是药房）的货架上完全没有药品。 它被定义为药房无法提供药物......