The practice of drug emergency supply in China from a policy mix perspective

Abstract Background This study aims to analyze relevant policy texts, explore and determine the focal points and inadequacies of the Chinese government in guaranteeing supplies of medicines, and provide advice on how to make better policies about drug supply when public health emergencies occur. Methods We selected 559 documents that guided the support of drug supply during emergencies issued by governments at both the national and provincial levels from December 1, 2019, to February 28, 2023. In addition, we developed a four-dimensional analysis framework of the issuing agency, issuing period, policy tools, and drug supply chain to analyze specific policy items, determine their basic characteristics, and quantitatively analyze them from a policy mix perspective. Results The analysis using policy tools showed that the national government tended to call on stakeholders in all aspects of drug supply to fulfil their responsibilities, and both national and provincial governments tended to use incentive tools, such as opening up urgent drug supply tracks and applying financial incentives to promote drug supply. However, managing stakeholders’ behaviors in drug supply and the capacity building to guarantee drug supply are still lacking and require improvement. From the perspective of the drug supply chain, the national government has paid much attention to the distribution of drugs, whereas attention to the supply of drug substances has been lacking. As various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of policies related to drug supply increased slowly after a surge at the beginning of the pandemic and then rapidly decreased. From the policy mix perspective, the analysis showed that incentives were lacking in drug research and development, and capacity building was not discussed much in the drug manufacturing process. Conclusions We suggest enhancing the complementarity and cohesion of the policy content issued by national and provincial governments, strengthening the coordination and connection between policymaking bodies, optimizing the internal structure of policy tools, improving the performance of various policy strategies, and using appropriate policy tools to create policies suited to various stages of emergencies and drug supply chains.