Medical oxygen is a lifesaving medicine with no substitute. It is essential for surgery, emergency and critical care, and for treating severe respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 and pneumonia. Medical oxygen is also critical for treating pregnant women with complications, newborns in respiratory distress and people with severe malaria, advanced HIV disease and tuberculosis (TB), among other critical health issues.
But despite its importance, medical oxygen is often unavailable where needed most. Severe shortages of medical oxygen have been a problem for decades; fewer than 50% of health facilities in many low- and middle- income countries have uninterrupted access. Inadequate health care infrastructure, lack of oxygen-related equipment, and prohibitively high costs are some of the challenges limiting access to medical oxygen. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these shortages. In early 2021 the need for medical oxygen rose tenfold in just a few weeks; many hospitals ran out of medical oxygen, leaving patients without lifesaving treatment and leading to countless preventable deaths.
How we work At Unitaid, we save lives by making new health products available and affordable for people in low- and middle-income countries. We identify innovative treatments and tools, help tackle the market barriers that are holding them back, and get them to the people who need them most – fast.
Equitable, sustainable access to medical oxygen is key to improving maternal and child health, strengthening primary health care in support of universal health coverage, and to ensuring health systems are better prepared for the next global health emergency.
Unitaid is a global leader in building sustainable, reliable and affordable access to medical oxygen and oxygen equipment in low- and middle-income countries. Increasing access to oxygen is more than simply increasing supply; through Unitaid’s market-shaping approach, we work with partners to introduce innovations such as better quality, more affordable oxygen delivery systems; strengthen health security by building regional oxygen production capabilities; create healthy competitive markets by negotiating lower prices with existing suppliers; facilitate skills transfer and training for emerging suppliers to meet quality standards and further lowering prices and creating more competitive markets; and to support governments and health facilities to determine the most appropriate oxygen system for their needs.
Our new Issue Brief highlights how we are working to increase sustainable access to medical oxygen.
Additional resources:
- Issue Brief: Medical Oxygen
- Briefing Note: Medical Oxygen – Essential for saving lives today and tomorrow
- Global Oxygen Alliance – https://globaloxygenalliance.org
Related news:
- Opinion: “The need to improve oxygen access has not ended with the pandemic”, by Philippe Duneton, Takeshi Akahori and Patrick Amoth (Nikkei Asia)
- UN High-Level Meetings must prioritize medical oxygen to save lives, say world’s leading agencies
- Global Oxygen Alliance launched to boost access to life saving oxygen