Global action is needed to solve the oxygen medical crisis

The report of the Lancet Global Health Commission Details for the first time how future investment in strengthening medical oxygen systems could have a great impact by saving millions of lives and improving the preparation of the pandemic.

Almost 400 million children and adults require medical oxygen every year. More than five billion people, 60 percent of the world’s population, do not have access to safe and affordable medical oxygen.

The commission, co -chaired by the University of Makerere in Uganda, the International Center for Diarrheal Diseases (ICDDR, B) in Bangladesh, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia, Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Coalition of Perships of the United States in the United States in the United States. It was launched in 2022 in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Commission had the task of presenting processable recommendations for governments, industry, global health agencies, donors and health workforce.

Dr. Hamish Graham of McRI said that the Covid-19 pandemic had highlighted the world’s long-standing world inequalities to access medical oxygen.

“Oxygen is required at all levels of the health system for children and adults with a wide range of acute and chronic conditions,” he said. The previous efforts, including the main investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, focus largely on the delivery of equipment to produce more oxygen, neglecting support systems and the necessary people to ensure that it is distributed, maintained and Use safely and effectively. “

Dr. Graham said that channeling investments in national oxygen plans and reinforcing health systems, including the broader use of pulse oximeters (a small device that measures how much oxygen is in the blood), would help solve the crisis oxygen doctor.

“We urgently need to make high quality pulse oximities more affordable and widely accessible,” he said. Pulse oximeters are available in 54 percent of general hospitals and 83 percent of tertiary hospitals in low and medium -sized income countries, with shortage and breakdown of frequent equipment.

“With respect, in these countries, devices are held only for 20 percent of patients who are presented to general hospitals and almost never for those in primary medical care centers. We see the greatest inequalities in government health centers small and rural and in all sub -Saharan Africa.

Dr. Graham said that the importance of medical oxygen should also be recognized and integrated into broader national strategies and pandemic preparation and response planning.

“Governments must bring together public and private sector partners with a participation in the delivery of medical oxygen, including health, education, industry, energy and transport to design a system and establish a governance structure that supports The new oxygen new alliance (Go₂Al) and replace the global background with a strong mandate of access to oxygen, “he said.

Key findings of the report published in Lancet’s global health include:

• The global need for medical oxygen is high. Each year, 374 million children and adults need medical oxygen, including 364 million patients with acute medical and surgical conditions and nine million patients with long -term oxygen needs due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• Global access to oxygen is highly unequal with large gaps in coverage despite pandemic investments. Less than one in three people in low and medium income countries that need oxygen for acute medical or surgical conditions.

• The costs to fill the oxygen vacuum are large, but represent a highly profitable investment that will have wide range impacts. Close the large access gap to acute medical and surgical oxygen in low and medium -sized countries requires $ 6.8 billion per year.

• National medical oxygen plans are essential to facilitate investment and effectively coordinate services. Less than 30 countries have developed national oxygen plans to date, but all governments are encouraged to have one by 2030.

• Oxygen systems must be designed to adapt to the context, include operating costs and be affordable for all patients. There is no unique national medical oxygen system for all. Governments must define priorities and optimize their systems to adapt to local conditions.

• Pulse oximetry is the entrance door to safe oxygen care, quality and affordable and must be integrated into clinical guidelines, education and all levels of the health system. Pulse oximetry measures should be evaluated routinely in patients at all levels of medical care.

• A need for a closer collaboration between the medical oxygen industry, national governments and global health agencies. Companies must adopt specific objectives of access to oxygen and publish progress, while global health agencies must regularly evaluate the progress of the oxygen industry similar to the way in which the pharmaceutical industry operates.

• The precise and timely data on oxygen systems are essential for effective decision making and access to oxygen service. New tools, such as the 10 oxygen coverage indicators and a national access to medical oxygen command (ATMO₂S) It would help governments plan their national oxygen systems and inform the progress of the implementation of WHO oxygen resolution.

The report occurs after it was announced that MCRI would be associated with 12 countries in the Pacific and Southeast Asia under a $ 10 million initiative to improve child and adolescent health throughout the region.

The Australian government has granted McRI a strategic subsidy as part of its associations for a healthy region initiative.

The three -year funds will be used to establish the realization program, the Regional Alliance for Learning in Equitable Child and Adolescents Systems, which will strengthen resilience in public health systems and interact with youth leaders and local communities To improve health. of all young people.