Integrated Annual Report 2024

Our advances

HEALTHCARE

Access Oxygen™ deployed in Mali

Access to medical oxygen is a basic requirement of any healthcare system, yet more than half of the world’s population has no access to medical oxygen ¹. Air Liquide has leveraged its expertise in medical gases to create Access Oxygen™, a social impact program to provide people in low- and middle-income countries with reliable and affordable access to medical oxygen. Already present in Senegal, South Africa, and Kenya, the program was introduced in Mali in 2024.

This image is dedicated to the Access Oxygen™ social impact program implemented by Air Liquide to improve access to medical oxygen in developing countries.

Objective

To enable primary healthcare facilities (both public and private) in certain low- or middle-income countries to access reliable, affordable, and sustainable medical oxygen.

How the program works:

  • Key stakeholders:
    • Healthcare authorities (National or local)
    • International Founders (Public and private)
    • Local operator (supplies and maintains the equipment on the field - NGOs, Social business, Air Liquide's subsidiary)
  • Air Liquide's social impact program: Implementation of a social impact program:
    • Advocacy
    • Fundraising
    • Identification of local players
    • Projects management
    • Training

Key results

2.7 million people have benefited from easier access to medical oxygen thanks to Access Oxygen™ since its launch in 2017.

4 countries:

  • Senegal
  • South Africa
  • Kenya
  • Mali

Access Oxygen™ is based on introducing solutions to supply medical oxygen that are tailored to the specific features of local healthcare systems. In the long run, the goal is to ensure that the solution is sustainable beyond Access Oxygen™’s intervention. In 2024, this program hit a significant milestone as it was deployed for the first time in Mali, where the oxygen therapy solution is being rolled out in 20 healthcare facilities in the Ségou and Kayes regions. The initiative was made possible thanks to the donation of oxygen concentrators by Airgas, Air Liquide’s U.S. subsidiary, to the Fédération Nationale des Associations de Santé Communautaire (National Federation of Community Health Associations), and to a collaboration with Malian health authorities and Mag Global Service, the local operator responsible for delivering the solution.

Besides providing access to medical oxygen, Access Oxygen™ aims to help build sustainable and lasting healthcare models to address crucial public health needs.