A cross-sectional quantitative analysis of production and requirements of medical oxygen during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal

TL;DR

This study analyzes medical oxygen production and requirements in Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic to guide future health crisis planning.

Contribution

The paper provides a quantitative analysis of oxygen supply and demand gaps in Nepal during the pandemic, highlighting regional disparities.

Findings

Private enterprises meet approximately 85.2% of Nepal's oxygen requirements.

At 80% efficiency, 90.8% of hospital oxygen needs can be fulfilled, but drops to 56.7% at 50% efficiency.

Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces show significant disparities in oxygen supply and demand.

Abstract

Medical oxygen supplementation is essential for treating severe illnesses and plays a critical role in managing life-threatening conditions, especially during the period of increased demand, such as the delta wave of COVID-19. The study aims to evaluate oxygen requirements and production to support effective capacity planning for future health crises.

Cross-sectional quantitative study. Data collection was carried out between 15 March and 19 December 2021.

The study used secondary data from Nepal’s Health Emergency Operation Centre. Regarding medical oxygen production, calculations included oxygen generated from both hospital-based oxygen plants and private companies, using their highest capacities for comparison. These production capacities were then assessed using three levels of efficiency (100%, 80% and 50%), revealing significant gaps when compared against the oxygen requirements of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, as guided by WHO recommendations. The results were communicated in terms of J-size cylinders, alongside average daily COVID-19 hospitalizations. Data was inputted and analysed using Microsoft Excel and presented in numbers and percentage.

The country’s oxygen demand relies largely on the production from private enterprises, with meeting approximately 85.2% of the total requirement. Optimal production ensures that national oxygen needs will be met. The analysis highlighted that at 80% operational efficiency, 90.8% of the hospital’s requirements could be fulfilled. However, if operational efficiency drops to 50%, the fulfilment rate diminishes to 56.7%. The differences in requirement and production of oxygen are consistent across the provinces; however, a huge disparity was notable in Karnali and Sudurpaschim.

Continuous assessment of production capacities in both hospital and private enterprises producing oxygen is necessary to plan and address the gaps.

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