The Ministry of Health has launched a national policy to ensure the production and provision of medical oxygen to various health facilities across the country.
The policy aims to establish a framework and a strategy that would scale up production, availability, access and use of the oxygen, which is essential for the treatment of patients with lung and other diseases.
The nation faces a high rate of death due to the lack of access to oxygen, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased medical oxygen demand by about three to sevenfold.
The policy will also help deal with the wide range of diseases where hypoxemia (insufficient oxygen in the blood) arises as a complication, such as pneumonia, which is the third highest cause of death in children under five years in Ghana.
According to the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, studies have shown that improved supply and utilisation of medical oxygen could reduce mortality from childhood pneumonia by 35 per cent.
The policy will also establish a regulatory system for the production, procurement, installation, distribution and rational use of the oxygen, strengthen the supply chain management systems and establish a robust monitoring and evaluation regime for management of the oxygen.
The Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, who launched the policy in Accra yesterday, said per the new policy, hospitals would be constructed with adequate facilities for medical oxygen supply, distribution and delivery to patients, while existing facilities would be equipped with the needed equipment to achieve the objectives of the policy.
She also urged all health facilities, both public and private, to adopt the government digitalisation agenda to effectively maintain and manage data on oxygen resources in order to prevent shortages.
She said the provision and expansion of priority healthcare infrastructure to increase access to quality care in the country had been the focus of the government for which reason it introduced the Agenda 111 health projects policy.
The World Health Organisation (WHO’s) representative in Ghana, Dr Francis Chisaka Kasolo, said the unavailability of medical oxygen could not be solved by a single entity or organisation and pledged the support of WHO to ensure the policy succeeded.
He said it required a collective effort from the government, healthcare providers, manufacturers and the international community. “We must act swiftly and decisively to bridge the gap between oxygen supply and demand,” he said.