Oxygen and PSA
Oxygen security
Oxygen security is the aim of the Lancet Global Health Commission on medical oxygen security (published 17 February 2025): medical oxygen available to everyone who needs it, secured by strengthening the whole medical oxygen system rather than by buying equipment alone.
The Commission, launched in 2022, set out to understand the root causes of medical oxygen shortages and to prevent a disaster such as the COVID-19 shortages from occurring again. It describes the medical oxygen system broadly, including clinical and engineering workforces, guidelines, equipment, electricity, supply chains, procurement and sustainable financing, and states that oxygen is not simply a set of products or devices that requires procurement and supply. It estimates that each year 374 million people need medical oxygen and that the coverage gap in low- and middle-income countries is 70%.
At health facility level, WHO's Foundations of medical oxygen systems (17 February 2023) uses system security for a primary source with two additional fallbacks at any time, the secondary system and the reserve supply, to ensure continuity of supply. The World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA76.3, Increasing access to medical oxygen, on 30 May 2023. See primary, secondary and reserve supply and national medical oxygen plans.
Sources
- The Lancet Global Health Commission on medical oxygen security (17 February 2025), introduction and panel 1
- WHO, Foundations of medical oxygen systems (17 February 2023), section 3.4.4
- World Health Assembly, resolution WHA76.3, Increasing access to medical oxygen (30 May 2023)
Ultra Controlo figures come from its technical datasheets. Third-party facts were read at the source on the date shown.