As the threat of the Omicron variant looms, steps like this are essential to prevent suffering and loss of life.
Oxygen supply, in particular, continues to be very important in Covid treatment, as the coronavirus impairs lung functions in serious patients. That’s why oxygen supply had emerged as one of the core components in Covid management as early as March 2020.
It is worth remembering that the shortage of oxygen became a key challenge for Bangladesh, and it was exacerbated by a regional shortage as other countries also began to suffer from a lack of oxygen supply.
Even though clear data is not available, it is undoubtedly the case that providing oxygen at the right and for the necessary period of time must have saved many lives, which means not having enough oxygen supply can be very damaging to catastrophic.
The Directorate General of Health Services’ (DGHS) initiative to import 102 oxygen generators is important progress in fortifying Covid management. It is also comforting to know that government facilities had already had the capacity to meet the oxygen demand, according to DGHS officials.
According to the DGHS data, the country now has a capacity of supplying 250 tons of oxygen, which was at 150 tons during the peak of infections last year.
In addition to the availability of oxygen as raw material, centralized systems for delivery in healthcare facilities is another important part of the equation, as oxygen from cylinders cannot provide high-pressure oxygen with efficiency, which many serious or critical patients often need.
The current administration deserves recognition for its effort and often leading Covid management from the front. It should now aim to ensure that more facilities have centralized oxygen, at least as many as needed to cover the whole country sufficiently.
We needed this.
