The government plans integrated medical oxygen projects in at least 20 districts this fiscal year, state minister for health Dr M A Muhit said on Sunday. He was chief guest at the closing session and policy dialogue of the two-day Bangladesh Oxygen Summit at Independent University, Bangladesh, organised by IUB's Centre for Health, Implementation and Policy Sciences and the Bangladesh Oxygen Network.
After Covid-19 and a 2023 World Health Organization resolution, he said, medical oxygen has become an essential part of health security, and the government is working towards the "oxygen access scorecard" recommended by the Lancet commission.
He acknowledged a serious lack of coordination in oxygen management in past years, with duplicated work in some places and equipment left idle in others. A high-level committee has now been set up at the ministry and a development project proposal (DPP) is being drafted to build integrated oxygen networks in at least 20 districts as quickly as possible.
He called for a National Oxygen Roadmap for 2026-2030, encouragement of home-grown innovation in health, and for the medical and nursing councils to add practical training in oxygen therapy to the curriculum.
Stressing uninterrupted oxygen for marginalised people, women and children with disabilities including cerebral palsy, he said Bangladesh has no clear policy or definition for emergency ambulance services and that the practice of fitting a light to any vehicle and running it as an ambulance must end. The government has begun work on a legal framework and standards for ambulance services, including oxygen supply.
The report is from Sarabangla.
Photo: Rifair / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Sarabangla
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