Prof Richard Sullivan (Kings College London, London, UK) speaks to Dr Aasim Yusuf (Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan) about his recent paper titled Cancer Hospital Stockpiles: Strategizing for an Efficient and Sufficient Inventory List of Essential Items.

Prof Sullivan starts by asking about the background of Dr Yusuf's work in Pakistan leading up to this paper, who gives an account of how events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic developed in the country. He reports that key challenges, especially early on, included struggling to source PPE, facing the risk of running out of oxygen, and astronomical increases in the price of certain items - which led them to produce the paper on their experiences.

Dr Yusuf outlines some of their findings and their recommendations on what was worth stockpiling in such a situation. They close by talking about the impact that this experience has had on healthcare and cancer care in Pakistan generally.