Hospitals in Damauli likely to face shortage of oxygen

Government-run medical facilities in Tanahu are highly likely to face a shortage of medical oxygen very soon. The three district-based government hospitals which provide treatment for Covid-19 have just 67 cylinders of oxygen in their stocks while the Covid-19 infection is flaring up across the country. It seems that the concerned authorities here are not worried about the potential shortage of medical oxygen which is vital to treat Covid-cases, primarily the serious one.

Local governments are apparently not serious towards the management of life-saving when the pandemic-caused health crisis is likely to further deepen. The Belchautara-based GP Koirala National Center for Respiratory Diseases in Shukalagandaki municipality-5 said it has 32 oxygen cylinders in the stock followed by 27 in the Damauli Hospital and 5 in the Bandipur Hospital.

Damauli Hospital medical superintendent Dr Sunil Poudel said that the hospital apprised the District Covid Crisis Management Center’s meeting about the situation, but it seemed that it was not the concern of any local governments. As he said, the stock of oxygen cylinders is just sufficient to address the need for a week. “But if the number of Covid-19 patients with breathing difficulty goes up, it will be hard to provide them oxygen therapy on time. It means that the patients requiring oxygen support are much likely to be deprived of timely care.’’Dr Poudel wants the local governments be serious about the gravity of the ongoing crisis and ensure the sufficient stock of the cylinders for the future purposes.

GP Koirala Treatment Center’s executive director Dr Ram Kumar Shrestha also said that they were likely to face the shortage of oxygen in the near future while Bandipur rural municipality’s health section chief Anjir Bhattarai said they were deciding to proceed towards the procurement of oxygen.

Chief District Officer and District Crisis Management Center’s coordinator Sagar Acharya said that they had decided to set up an oxygen plant in the district to cope with the potential crisis in the days ahead.

It may be noted that earlier the Gandaki Province Government had allocated RS 7.5 million to set up the oxygen plant at the Damauli Hospital, the implementation of the decision is yet to awaited. However, Hospital Management Committee chair Pradeep Raj Adhikari assured that the plant would be established within the current fiscal year.