The COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of humanitarian logistics

Abstract

An integrative literature review (ILR) was conducted to identify the relationship between humanitarian logistics and the development of the COVID-19 pandemic based on research in the SCOPUS, MEDLINE and ENEGEP databases in April and May 2022. In all, 61 arti-cles were evaluated according to the following cri-teria: original article or review of literature published in a scientific journal; abstract and full text available; article on humanitarian logistics in re-lation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting sample comprised eleven publications organized and analyzed through a synthesis matrix, where 72% were published in international journals and mostly in 2021 (56%). The presence of the supply chain defines the course of action of economic and social sectors, which in turn determine, by means of an interdisciplinary approach, humanitarian operations in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of studies narrows down humanitarian logistics to mitigate the impacts caused by these disasters, both in the context of the current pandemic and in future events of the same nature. However, as a global emergency, it suggests the need to increase scientific knowledge on the subject of humanitarian logistics related to disaster events.