Researchers, government agencies and other stakeholders in Ebonyi State have called for stronger collaboration, standardisation and improved infrastructure to address challenges in the production, distribution and use of medical oxygen in the state.
The call was made at a Stakeholders Engagement and Co-Creation Workshop on Medical Oxygen Economy in Ebonyi State, organised by the EQUI-RESP Africa Research Project in conjunction with the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (DUFUHS) and the University of Edinburgh, UK.
The Vice Chancellor of DUFUHS and lead investigator of the EQUI-RESP Africa Research Project, Prof. Jesse Uneke, said research and collaboration were critical to expanding the impact of medical oxygen interventions beyond the communities where they were initiated.
He said the multi-country, multi-centre project was designed to assess existing systems, identify gaps and develop better approaches to ensuring adequate access to medical oxygen.
Uneke commended the Ebonyi State Government for creating an enabling environment for oxygen production, noting that the state previously had no production facility but now has multiple centres producing medical oxygen.
He said the importance of medical oxygen became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when healthcare systems nationwide struggled to meet the oxygen needs of critically ill patients, exposing gaps in the country’s supply system and the need for sustainable local production.
He identified the oxygen production facility at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AE-FUTHA), as one of the centres supplying oxygen in the state, and commended its personnel for their training in oxygen production, distribution and use.
Uneke said the installation of piped oxygen systems in the hospital’s intensive care units and other sections had improved access by eliminating the need to move cylinders around the facility, allowing patients to access oxygen directly through designated outlets.
He said the project’s objective was to assess existing practices, highlight strengths and gaps, and ensure medical oxygen is adequately provided to patients who need it, acknowledging funding support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a boost to research and healthcare development in the region.
Nwachukwu Udoka of the Ebonyi State office of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) said medical oxygen administration required multi-sectoral cooperation, noting that NESREA established national regulations on healthcare waste control, including provisions on oxygen production waste, in 2011.
The State Coordinator of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Samuel Nwachukwu, said the agency was committed to ensuring oxygen production and supply met required standards, explaining that standards are developed through collaboration among academia, manufacturers and other stakeholders and represent minimum requirements producers must meet.
He said SON currently monitors oxygen-producing companies for compliance and pledged the organisation’s support for research, policy development and standards for the medical oxygen sector.