Centre advises states and UTs on ensuring availability of oxygen

Dimapur, Sep. 14 (EMN): With an aim to ensure adequate oxygen availability in all healthcare facilities in the country and unrestricted intra as well as inter-state movement of oxygen, the Union Health Secretary, Industries and Internal Trade Secretary and Secretary Pharmaceuticals, organised a virtual meeting with 29 Indian states and Union Territories (UTs) on Monday.

An update from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare via PIB informed that the Union Health Secretary, Secretary DPIIT Secretary Pharmaceuticals and Secretary Textiles participated in the meeting.
Health secretaries and industries secretaries of states and UTs, including Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Tripura participated in the virtual meeting, it informed.
“It was noted that 11 tankers in the state of Assam supply oxygen to most of the north-eastern states. States were asked to assess the need and then to press more tankers into action, repurpose similar vehicles for carrying oxygen, take steps to reduce their turnaround time so that patients do not face any lack of oxygen,” the PIB informed.

The states were specifically advised to:

• Ensure facility-wise or hospital-wise oxygen inventory management and advance planning for timely replenishment so that there are no stockout.
• Ensure that no restriction is imposed on the movement of medical oxygen between states andUTs.
• Provision of “Green Corridor” for liquid medical oxygen (LMO) tankers within the cities.
• Real time monitoring of cryogenic tankers used to supply oxygen.
• Repurposing of argon and nitrogen carrying tankers to increase number of oxygen carrier vehicles.
• Hospitals and institutions have long term tender and contract agreement for supply of oxygen with oxygen manufacturers, which need to be honoured. Hence, states must not impose restrictions on free movement of oxygen.
• Ensure timely payment of the due bills to the manufacturers and supplier to maintain uninterrupted supply of oxygen.
• Improve power supply infrastructure and ensure uninterrupted supply to oxygen manufacturing units.
• Improve hospital storage capacity and identify MSME units whose storage capacity can be used to store oxygen.
• Undertake oxygen consumption audit, ensure only cases requiring medical oxygenation are administered with oxygen and prevent leakages due to negligence of hospital staff
• Ensure proper disinfection of oxygen cylinders as per protocols while sending cylinders to fillers of oxygen.
• Effective co-ordination with steel plants for oxygen procurement since steel plants provide approximately 550 MT per day oxygen in addition to oxygen manufacturers who provide 6400 MT per day.
• Expedite process of grant of licenses to produce medical oxygen to those already producing industrial oxygen.