Making oxygen more accessible
Vision
Oxygen saves lives yet half of the world’s population has no access to medical oxygen. As a major player in the healthcare sector worldwide for 60 years, Air Liquide has leveraged on its long term expertise in medical oxygen supply to create a social impact program Access Oxygen™ to make medical oxygen available in rural areas in low and middle income countries. Since the launch of the program, 2 million people in Senegal, South Africa and Kenya have gained access to oxygen. And the work continues: our ultimate goal is to develop access to oxygen in more countries in Africa but also in Asia and Latin America.
more than>2M people in Africa have been facilitated with access to oxygen since the launch of the program
Action
Q&A: Dr Bernard Olayo, founder of Centre for Public Health and Development (CPHD), Kenya
Doctor, what is CPHD?
Our mission is to address the main health challenges that can be fatal for women and children. We bring innovative solutions to the public health system in the Eastern African region.
Can you give us an example of when medical oxygen is saving lives?
A particularly dangerous illness is childhood pneumonia. Each year it kills around 800,000 children under the age of five worldwide Most deaths are concentrated in countries where incomes are low. That includes Kenya, where tragically we lose up to 6,000 children each year, mainly because of a lack of oxygen. Even when seriously ill children receive hospital treatment and the necessary antibiotics, half of them will still die if oxygen is not available.
How has Access Oxygen™ made a difference?
While other programs serve larger hospitals, Access Oxygen™ fills a vital gap because it is tailored to the needs of primary care for example, the clinics serving small and often remote communities.
Once these smaller facilities have oxygen, they can administer life saving treatment to a sick child more quickly, without losing vital time travelling to a bigger facility.
Concretely, what does the support of Access Oxygen™ look like?
We are equipping the small primary care facilities with a complete solution comprising oxygen cylinders, concentrators, pulse oximeters and regulators. And as importantly, Access Oxygen™ provides training for the caregivers, and supports the equipment with maintenance to ensure accuracy and reliability.
Why did you choose Access Oxygen™ ?
We have partnered with Access Oxygen™ teams because of their work done in Senegal. They bring real world experience of providing this support in other places. With their track record, we can approach potential funders with a high degree of credibility. Thanks to their experience, we were able to make the solution in Kenya a reality.