Personal protective equipment stockpile practices: a document and scoping review

To characterize policies and practices for stockpiling personal protective equipment (PPE) as described in the academic literature, cited documents, and the World Health Organization's Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) reports, and to identify recommendations for future improvement.

Seven electronic databases were searched using terms related to PPE and stockpiles: ABI/Inform, CINAHL, EconLit, Embase, Engineering Village, PubMed, and Scopus. Documents published January 2015 to November 2024 were included if substantive detail of a PPE stockpile was described. References were then screened. Available JEE (n = 109) and NAPHS (n = 16) reports were reviewed for stockpile descriptions and recommendations.

The scoping review identified 391 unique records, 13 of which were eligible for inclusion following full-text screening. Seven further documents were identified through reference screening. PPE stockpiles of 19 countries were discussed in included articles, and medical countermeasure stockpiles of 83 countries were discussed in JEE and NAPHS reports. Characteristics and recommendations were identified across all stages of stockpiling.

PPE stockpiles exist in many nations, sharing several characteristics and diverging on others, highlighting potential areas for cross-context learning. Further descriptions and recommendations are needed for stockpiles outside of high-income countries.