Ministry Of Health Forms An Oxygen Taskforce To Address Shortage

Ministry of Health in a statement on Thursday morning said that the team is working on a master plan as well as assessing the infrastructure and economies of scale per hospital to address the situation. The Ministry noted that the task force has identified issues of service, maintenance and operations, and pipping as a requirement. 

The ministry stated that Oxygen is an essential commodity in our drug list and although we have oxygen plants across the country the oxygen is not sufficient. According to the Ministry of Health statistics, the total production and requirement of oxygen for the industry was about 410 tonnes as per last year.

Production increased to 560 tonnes in January this year due to the rising cases of critical care patients in need of oxygen. As the third wave of the virus continues to ravage the country, there are fears that the demand of Oxygen might double.

The ministry shared the details a day after it emerged that health services at the Kenyatta Nationa Hospital (KNH) have been greatly affected following the shortage of medical oxygen. The hospital suspended surgeries and indicated the shortage was attributed to the surge of Covid-19 cases.