In low- and middle-income countries, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed a long-neglected problem that was already contributing to untold preventable deaths every year. Now, a global mobilization to scale up the supply of medical oxygen must be transformed to last into the post-COVID era.
NEW YORK – COVID-19 has taken at least 18 million lives, and it is anyone’s guess how many of those deaths were due to a lack of medical oxygen. Governments don’t want to talk about the issue, because that could mean admitting that thousands – or even hundreds of thousands – of their citizens died unnecessarily. But unless health systems take steps to ensure a sufficient supply of oxygen in the future, they will be risking a repeat of the past two years.
NEW YORK – COVID-19 has taken at least 18 million lives, and it is anyone’s guess how many of those deaths were due to a lack of medical oxygen. Governments don’t want to talk about the issue, because that could mean admitting that thousands – or even hundreds of thousands – of their citizens died unnecessarily. But unless health systems take steps to ensure a sufficient supply of oxygen in the future, they will be risking a repeat of the past two years.