The American Medical Manufacturers Association, formerly the American Mask Manufacturers Association, (AMMA) is an organization formed to promote strategic mask, respirator, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) manufacturing in the United States.
| Formation | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
Executive Director | Eric Axel |
Key people | Dan Izhaky, President; Eddie Phanichkul Vice President |
| Website | ammaunited.org |
Organization and activities
editEric Axel serves as executive director while Dan Izhaky and Eddie Phanichkul serve as the President and Vice President of the American Medical Manufacturer's Association (AMMA). AMMA represents more than 15 mask, respirator, medical device, and PPE manufacturers from across the United States. Some manufacturers produced masks during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses decided to manufacturer PPE in the US as mayors and governors across the US pleaded with entrepreneurs to set up a PPE supply chain.[1]
AMMA was founded in early 2021 by Brent Dillie (of Amerishield Premium PPE), Lloyd Armbrust (Armbrust American), and Eddie Phanichkul (Lutema USA) among other American mask manufactures who started manufacturing PPE in early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mission of AMMA is to increase awareness of US-based manufacturing of PPE, and promote the strategic manufacturing of PPE in the United States to prevent reliance on foreign PPE by working with both state and federal governments in the United States.[2][3][4]
In May 2021, Chinese companies, which were nationalized by the Chinese government, flooded the U.S. with cheap surgical masks causing some American businesses that manufactured PPE to downsize or shut down.[5][1][6]
In March 2021, the AMMA sent an open letter to President Joe Biden to assure the government that members of AMMA had the capacity to provide PPE to every American in the United States.[7]
In January 2022, the AMMA began working directly with U.S. government officials and The Biden Administration COVID-19 action plan to promote the purchase of American-made masks and respirators for government employees and officials. In an open letter from Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), they applaud the President for distributing N95 masks and federal officials prioritization of American-made masks and respirators. AMMA founding member Eddie Phanichkul additionally voiced his support for Senator Baldwin and Senator Brown for prioritizing American masks manufacturers.[8]
In January 2023, the American Mask Manufactures Association was renamed and relaunched as the American Medical Manufactures Association to become more inclusive of other medical devices and PPE.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b "I-Team: American PPE Makers Warn of Chinese Mask 'Dumping'". nbcnewyork.com. 14 May 2021.
- ^ "Covid Forced America to Make More Stuff. What Happens Now?". Wired.
- ^ "Lutema of San Diego Switches to Manufacturing 5-Layer M95 Masks". yurview.com. 9 March 2021.
- ^ "American Mask Manufacturer's Association Launches, Aims For Closer Ties With Government, Federal Agencies". yahoo.com.
- ^ Jacobs, Andrew (29 May 2021). "A Glut of Chinese Masks Is Driving U.S. Companies Out of Business". The New York Times.
- ^ "U.S. Companies Shifted To Make N95 Respirators During COVID. Now, They're Struggling". npr.org.
- ^ Aeppel, Timothy (11 May 2021). "America's mask makers face post-pandemic meltdown". reuters.com.
- ^ Baldwin, Tammy (19 January 2022). "Senators Baldwin, Brown Applaud President for Distributing Free N95 Masks to Americans; Urge President, Federal Officials to Prioritize Purchase and Distribution of Made In America Masks". baldwin.senate.gov/.
- ^ Evers-Hillstrom, Karl (9 February 2023). "American PPE manufacturers form lobbying group to boost US production". thehill.com/.