A Survey of Location-Allocation of Points of Dispensing During Public Health Emergencies

Public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks and bioterrorism attacks require immediate response to ensure the safety and well-being of the affected community and prevent the further spread of infection. The standard method to increase the efficiency of mass dispensing during health emergencies is to create emergency points called points of dispensing (PODs). PODs are sites for distributing medical services such as vaccines or drugs to the affected population within a specific time constraint. These PODs need to be sited in optimal locations and have people (demand points) assigned to them simultaneously; this is known as the location-allocation problem. PODs may need to be selected to serve the entire population (full allocation) or different priority or needs groups (partial allocation). Several previous studies have focused on location problems in different application domains, including healthcare. However, some of these studies focused on healthcare facility location problems without specifying location-allocation problems or the exact domain. This study presents a survey of the PODs location-allocation problem during public health emergencies. This survey aims to review and analyse the existing models for PODs location-allocation during public health emergencies based on full and partial demand points allocation. Moreover, it compares existing models based on their key features, strengths, and limitations. The challenges and future research directions for PODs location-allocation models are also discussed. The results of this survey demonstrated a necessity to develop a variety of techniques to analyse, define and meet the demand of particular groups. It also proved essential that models be developed for different countries, including accounting for variations in population size and density. Moreover, the model constraints, such as those relating to time or prioritizing certain groups, need to be considered in the solution. Finally, additional comparative studies are required to clarify which methods or models are adequate based on predefined criteria.