Investment in medical oxygen supply system needed

The information was unveiled by Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan during September 13 teleconference for online training aimed at deploying a project to strengthen the supply and use of medical oxygen for health facilities to treat COVID-19 patients.

The primary aim of the function is to proactively and and effectively respond with medical oxygen for the emergency and treatment of COVID-19 patients amid the current complicated nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upon addressing the event, Deputy Minister Thuan emphasised the urgent need to invest in the medical oxygen supply system over the long term. This should be done whilst expanding the production scale and the network of supplying medical oxygen at medical health stations to save the lives of COVID-19 patients, and creating a solid foundation for sustainable use in the future.

Nguyen Minh Tuan, director of the Ministry of Health's Department of Medical Equipment and Construction said that the capacity and supply of oxygen across the country each day reaches roughly 1,200 tonnes of liquid oxygen and can be increased by between 50% and 100% when needed.

During the conference, Deputy Minister Thuan proposed four groups of solutions which provinces and cities can use to assess the status of medical oxygen technical infrastructure in health stations at the grassroots levels. This can also contribute to devising a plan to improve the technical infrastructure of oxygen systems at medical facilities. 

Localities must therefore assess oxygen production capacity and their oxygen supplier network to devise a plan  to expand the scale of oxygen production and supply sources to ensure that demands can be fully met.