Medical oxygen: gas companies must shore up supply – report

Although the COVID-19 pandemic reemphasized the essentiality of medical liquid oxygen (medical LOX) in healthcare systems, a new report by Access to Medicine Foundation indicates that low and middle-income countries are still facing supply shortages. 

Access to Medicine Foundation is an independent non-profit organisation that seeks to transform the healthcare ecosystem by motivating and mobilising companies to expand access to their essential healthcare products tracked down initiatives taken by six global companies to increase access and supply of medical LOX both during health emergencies and daily health needs, especially in low and middle-income countries. 

The gas companies under review are; Air Liquide, Air Products, Linde, Messer, Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation and SOL Group which produce medical oxygen via cryogenic fractional distillation at cryogenic air separation units (ASUs) including distribution in cylinders.

In the report, Access to Medicine Foundation notes that historically, the production of medical LOX has never been a core business of gas companies, but given the essential nature of the product for lifesaving treatment such as pneumonia and tuberculosis and daily medical procedures during surgery and childbirth gas companies must urgently harness and expand production of medical LOX. 

Although medical LOX high-profile use was more pronounced during the 2-year COVID-19 pandemic, medical oxygen is also essential in the critical treatment of other communicable conditions such as pneumonia, malaria and tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and heart disease. 

OXYGEN HAS NO SUBSTITUTE 

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines medical oxygen as “lifesaving and an essential medicine used to ensure safe surgical, emergency and critical care services. It is used at all levels of the healthcare system and is crucial for the treatment of COVID-19 and other life-threatening conditions such as severe pneumonia, severe malaria, sepsis caused by a wide variety of pathogens, trauma and complications of pregnancy or birth. Unlike many medicines, it has no substitute.”

The report further notes that deliberate efforts to increase supply in low and middle-income companies have been reported in only 39 of 108 countries. 

It is estimated half of healthcare facilities in Africa do not have reliable access to essential oxygen with weak weak oxygen infrastructure, fragmented supply chains, transport challenges, and unreliable energy resources for production among the challenges cited, and where it is available it is often unaffordable.

Furthermore, Access to Medicine Foundation says because patients and health systems do not necessarily ‘demand’ a drug or commodity which has never been available in their setting, it makes it difficult for gas companies and policymakers to quantify the potential opportunity. 

“With a small number of companies responsible for the world’s supply of medical liquid oxygen, the role they play in the global health ecosystem needs to be prioritised. Medical gases are a small part of these companies’ business, yet society needs them to ensure this vital lifeline is available both during emergencies and to meet the daily medical oxygen needs of all health systems,” said AMF CEO, Jayasree K. Iyer.