The World Health Organization (WHO) considers oxygen a life-saving medicine. As the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has waned, oxygen has lost prominence in medical discussions. Experts say it is now time to focus on the use of oxygen for patients at home.
From mid-May 2020, soon after the pandemic began, oxygen shortages in both public and private hospitals across the country sparked uproar. Before COVID-19, the daily demand for oxygen in Bangladesh was 50–70 metric tons. During the pandemic, that demand rose two and a half to three times. At the same time, oxygen imports from India came to a halt. Reports of hospital deaths due to oxygen shortages also surfaced.
With support from the WHO, UNICEF, and other donors, the health sector introduced central oxygen supply lines in 120 public and private COVID-dedicated hospitals across the country. Around 30,000 oxygen cylinders were made available in both public and private hospitals. Eventually, Bangladesh managed to overcome the oxygen crisis.
The responsibility for ensuring hospital oxygen supply lies with the Hospital Wing of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Its director, Abu Hossain Md Mainul Ahsan, told Prothom Alo, “There is no shortage or problem regarding oxygen in any hospital in the country. For now, there is no concern about a potential crisis either.”
Against this backdrop, today (Thursday) marks World Oxygen Day, observed every year on 2 October. This year’s theme is “Oxygen for All.” The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) will observe the day on 7 October.
Why oxygen is essential
COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory illness. But oxygen is not only required for respiratory diseases like COVID-19 or pneumonia. According to the WHO, oxygen is an essential life-saving medicine with no substitute. Artificial oxygen is needed in surgeries and trauma care. It is also crucial for elderly people, pregnant women, and newborns.
Oxygen exists in human blood, organs, tissues, and skin. Continuous oxygen intake is vital for survival. Humans absorb oxygen from the air through breathing. At rest, a person requires about 200 milliliters of oxygen per minute. The brain consumes the most oxygen. While humans can survive for many days without food and a few days without water, without oxygen, death occurs within minutes.
Air contains 21 per cent oxygen. This oxygen can be separated for industrial use, known as industrial oxygen. Hospitals also use oxygen, but it must be pure. According to WHO, from production to storage, supply, quality assurance, and patient delivery, oxygen requires a complex process.
Why new thinking needed
Bangladesh’s elderly population is growing. Around 20 million people in the country are aged 60 or above. Many of them suffer from chronic illnesses. Statistics show that 200,000 people alone suffer from chronic respiratory diseases. Many of them cannot go to hospitals or afford hospital treatment. For such patients, oxygen therapy at home is possible.
Ahmad Ehsanur Rahman, scientist at icddr,b and member of the Executive Committee of the Lancet Commission on Medical Oxygen Security, told Prothom Alo, “Life quality improves significantly for people suffering from chronic respiratory diseases if they receive oxygen. Bangladesh has not yet taken steps to provide oxygen to such patients. On this World Oxygen Day, we must seriously consider embarking on this new path.”