Closing the medical oxygen gap in low and middle income countries (LMICs) will cost $34bn in the next five years, according to research published by The Lancet.
This estimate does not include the substantial costs of meeting the additional oxygen requirements caused by pandemics (the additional cost of COVID-19-related oxygen requirements in LMICs in 2021 was $6.8bn).
More than 5 billion people, more than 60% of the world’s population, do not have access to safe, quality, and affordable medical oxygen service, the Reducing global inequities in medical oxygen access report notes.
Moreover, fewer than 30 countries have developed national oxygen plans as stipulated in WHO’s 2023 increasing access to medical oxygen resolution.
“We encourage all governments to do so by 2030,” it adds. “To develop the plan, governments should bring together public and private sector partners with a stake in medical oxygen delivery including the health, education, industry, energy, and transport sectors, to design the system and institute a governance structure that keeps all parties connected in system management.”
The case for investing in medical oxygen is strong: it is as cost-effective as routine childhood immunisation, would enable governments to make progress on eight of the nine SDG 3 goals, and could reduce deaths during future pandemics.
Oxygen systems should be integrated into broader national health plans and pandemic preparedness and response strategies.
There is no one-size-fits-all national medical oxygen system. Rather, governments should define priorities and optimise their systems to suit local conditions.
“Most health systems and health facilities will benefit from a mixed-source oxygen supply (ie, liquid oxygen, oxygen plant, oxygen cylinders, and oxygen concentrator), including reliable back-ups in case of failure or to meet surges in demand during emergencies,” it adds.
It calls on global health agencies and donors to maintain oxygen access as a global health priority, including supporting the new Global Oxygen Alliance and replenishing The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria with a strong oxygen-access mandate.
Each year, 374 million people need medical oxygen, 364 million in acute medical and surgical contexts, and nine million with long-term oxygen needs due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Watch: Leith Greenslade, Coordinator at the Every Breath Counts Coalition, discusses what she would like to see next from the gases industry, on gasworld’s Medical Gases: Oxygen and Beyond webinar.
