The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) is going to set up medical oxygen plants in four districts of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
This mega project is said to be a pilot project to help decrease the mortality rate mostly among under five-year-old children detected with pneumonia.
Pediatric pneumonia is the single hazardous infectious reason of death in children globally and the shortage of oxygen among children had doubled the death rate, according to medical experts.
Moreover, the facility of oxygen supply has also been a key issue that the government sector hospitals used to face.
Read more: Oxygen plants being set up in 10 KP districts for serious patients
Medical experts said the oxygen supply issues had surfaced repeatedly throughout the peak seasons of Covid-19 when the hospitals met its severe shortage and unfortunately the rate of the life-saving gases increased manifold.
Therefore, to address the issue, an important decision was taken at a meeting held at the Directorate Health Services Punjab to establish the oxygen plants for the assurance of uninterrupted supply of medical gases.
Showing the concern on the issue, DG Health Punjab Dr. Haroon Jehangir, Prof Tariq Bhutta, Unicef representative Dr. Rana Mushtaq, and other officials concerned attended the meeting.
Prof Tariq Bhutta told the media that the meeting also announced to start of oxygen therapy for children suffering from pneumonia, stating it is vital to human life.
He emphasized that the kids facing chronic lungs disease needed additional oxygen to survive. “Oxygen therapy is a treatment that provides a kid with supplemental, or extra oxygen”, he mentioned.
Prof Bhutta further added that in the developed countries the rate had been less than 0.5percent and stated that the high percentage of death rate in Punjab is a matter of serious concern.
He said oxygen gas plants were being set up at the district headquarters hospitals of Muzaffargarh and Bahawalnagar to ensure the timely provision of supply on a long-term basis.
He informed the meeting that Unicef is looking provide to provide heavy equipment, technical experts, and skilled allied staff to generate the medical oxygen at the plants.
“The Unicef is giving it a final shape and the plant will start providing the medical oxygen soon,” Bhutta said.
