As the second wave of COVID-19 takes foothold on Africa through its newly mutated form, the Federal Government has been warned of the need to address the shortage of oxygen in public hospitals.
Nigeria’s major teaching hospital — University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu reported an acute shortage of Oxygen, an important material for keeping COVID-19 patients alive while on treatment.
The Guardian found that the oxygen plant at the UNTH, Ituku, Ozalla, Enugu, which malfunctioned recently had not been put back to use at press time.
Despite the spike in COVID-19 infections, patients and institutions do not go there to purchase oxygen, even when the hospital is the only test centre in the state. Oxygen is not currently sold at the UNTH, even as the hospital relies on other medical institutions for treatment of cases requiring oxygen.
Reliable sources stated that those who required oxygen to treat COVID-19 cases were referred to private or other public institutions in the state.
Efforts to get comments from the hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr Obinna Onodugo on the development proved abortive, just as the Institution’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Cyril Keleze, could not respond to telephone calls or text messages.
An official of the hospital, who spoke to The Guardian on condition of anonymity, however, said that oxygen was not something that could be purchased by private persons for use.
“The problem,” he said, “is that they don’t want to supply it; this is part of the challenge we face in treating COVID-19 infections. Most people don’t report this matter until they get to an alarming stage and that is when you will require oxygen to put the person in the ventilator. If people could take precautionary measures seriously, we would be able to overcome this development.”
He explained that the Oxygen plant at the UNTH could serve the needs of the entire Southeast zone, when put back to use, and called on the authorities, including the Enugu State Government to make the place work “in the interest of our people. ”
