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As the demand for oxygen soars across the world during the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation says there is a growing shortage in Africa and Latin America.
Access to oxygen is a growing challenge in low- and middle-income countries, with more than than half a million Covid-19 patients needing oxygen treatment every day.
Covid-19 has put huge pressure on health systems, particularly in developing countries. Reports from Nigeria, for instance, show that some hospitals are running out of oxygen, resulting in preventable deaths.
“It’s one of the defining health equity issues of our age.”
Rodger Bosch, AFP
The Covid-19 pandemic has left an already strained medical oxygen supply gasping for breath, with the UN and its partners warning Thursday that $1.6 billion was needed to address the global emergency.
Covid-19 has put massive pressure on health systems around the world, and in particular in poorer countries, where many hospitals have faced oxygen shortages.
This has resulted in preventable deaths and forced families of hospitalised patients to pay extra to ensure access to oxygen for their loved ones.
The WHO-led ACT-Accelerator, a globally-pooled hunt for Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics and treatments, said on Thursday it was launching an Oxygen Emergency Taskforce to address the spiralling crisis.