medical supplies

Storm damage closes N.C. factory that makes vital hospital supplies

2:04pm October 04, 2024

Remnants of Hurricane Helene shut down a North Carolina factory that supplies critical IV fluids to hospitals across the country. There's no timeline for when production will resume at the facility.

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An injured Tigray People's Liberation Front fighter who was shot in the cheek recovers after surgery at the Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Mekele, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region. It's the only place in Tigray currently conducting surgery. Elsewhere, "they are stopped because there is no supply, there is no electricity, and there is no fuel," says one Tigray doctor.

'Where is humanity?' ask the helpless doctors of Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region

10:26am October 14, 2022

by Ari Daniel

Civil war has blockaded the country's northern region and decimated a hospital system that serves nearly 7 million people. Without basic supplies, power and medicine, thousands are needlessly dying.

Health & Safety

The humble bravery of a young neurologist from Kyiv

8:38am March 13, 2022

by Ari Daniel

Aleksandra Shchebet fled Kyiv when the bombing began, found refuge in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk — and decided to stay and help her country in any way she could.

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A health worker holds an N95 respirator in the emergency room at OakBend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, in July. N95s are tested and approved by a federal agency as having demonstrated that they can filter out a minimum of 95% of airborne particles.

Health & Safety

Why N95 Masks Are Still In Short Supply In The U.S.

5:00am January 27, 2021

by Yuki Noguchi

Early in the pandemic, shortages of N95 respirators and other medical gear prompted panic across the world. A year later, the masks still aren't widely available to U.S. consumers.

An N95 face mask outside NYU Langone Health hospital during the coronavirus pandemic.

Opinion: NFL Fashion Masks But Still Not Enough Protective Masks

8:04am May 02, 2020

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon explains why protective masks for frontline workers are still in short supply, while fashion masks for the rest of us seem to be readily available.

President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White Houseon Friday. Seated from left, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr.

National

Market And Business Ties Often Determine Where COVID-19 Supplies Go

7:00am April 11, 2020

by Brian Mann

Under a collaboration between the Trump administration and major corporations, the marketplace and business ties often shape decisions about who gets life-saving equipment, and who has to wait.

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Montana Gov. Steve Bullock in Clear Lake, Iowa, last August.

National

How 1 State Says It's Being Left Out Of Airlifted Supply Chain

8:07am April 10, 2020

by Joel Rose

The Trump administration says it's directing critical medical supplies "to the right place at the right time." But Gov. Steve Bullock says Montana isn't seeing any of that help.

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Security with face masks stand in front of the Signal Iduna Park, where a temporary coronavirus treatment center opened in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday. Germany has the fourth-most COVID-19 cases in the world and demand for medical supplies has skyrocketed

German, French Officials Accuse U.S. Of Diverting Supplies

3:34pm April 04, 2020

by Lynsey Jeffery

Officials in France and Germany have accused the U.S. of intercepting medical supplies as President Trump ordered an American company to stop exports. Governors complain of a "wild west" in bidding.

In Texas, Oklahoma, Women Turned Away Because Of Coronavirus Abortion Bans

5:22am April 03, 2020

by Sarah McCammon

Republican officials in several states are trying to ban abortion during the coronavirus pandemic to preserve medical supplies.

HanesBrands Pivots To Mask Production To Fight Outbreak

7:31am March 23, 2020

by Paul Garber

Winston-Salem-based HanesBrands will shift some of its production to making badly needed masks to fight the spread of coronavirus.