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November 2021 Issue 199-Food and Beverage
Gasworld US Edition, Volume 59, Issue 12 (December)-Food and Beverage
Author: Rob Cockerill, Global Editor-in-Chief 2021-07-29T08:18:00 01:00
In June, news broke that Air Liquide and Linde reached an unprecedented agreement to provide more medical oxygen in low-income and middle-income countries. This has been achieved in the fight against Covid-19 (coronavirus) and gas. An important milestone in the industry.
These agreements were reached after months of close contact between the Covid-19 Oxygen Emergency Working Group and the world's major oxygen suppliers. A breakthrough has been made in the supply of medical oxygen to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This is a critical development praised by the international community, but there are still only two signatories from the industry’s major oxygen producers and suppliers.
On the eve of the forthcoming gasworld magazine Medical Issues, we explored why it is considered such a breakthrough, and perhaps therefore, why a broader collaborative effort might be so important—not just through our hope for the end of this pandemic, but In a world beyond Covid-19.
"Think of it this way: If we don't sit down and talk with pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, how can we reach an agreement on a Covid-19 vaccine, let alone develop and distribute it?"
This is how Leith Greenslade, founder and CEO of JustActions and coordinator of the Every Breath Counts Coalition, puts the importance of the new agreement in context.
"A basic prerequisite during a pandemic is that you must have an ongoing dialogue with the industry on one of the main solutions to reduce the number of deaths," she added. However, there does not seem to be such a dialogue on oxygen. This alone highlights the absolute importance of the working group’s work and existing agreements.
Greenslade continued: "We have had a conversation with vaccines, we have had conversations with diagnostic tests and other kinds of drugs (such as steroids), but we have not yet established a partnership with the oxygen industry-just in Covid There hasn’t been one before, or the first year of Covid. This is the first concrete example of direct cooperation with the oxygen industry, because the World Health Organization now calls it the most essential medicine for Covid-19-oxygen."
“When you say that, it’s shocking,” she added. “We have entered this pandemic, and the essential medicine for Covid patients-oxygen-has no cooperation of any kind. Now we have, There are at least two oxygen giants. It is great that we have these two players, but we do need to actively engage and reach agreements with all the leading oxygen suppliers in liquids, PSA plants and enrichment plants."
At this point, let us turn to PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) plants-these systems use common components, compared with low-temperature production of oxygen, can greatly reduce the initial capital required, and provide mobile hospitals and medical care that meet different needs The health sector.
Their rise in the medical market is driven by "monographs" that believe that the use of oxygen with a purity in the range of 90-96% is acceptable, and it can be said that during the pandemic, people's attention is focused on This way of oxygen production.
Read more: Opportunities for on-site oxygen production
Novair was one of the first companies to introduce an oxygen generator as a medical oxygen supply source to European hospitals in 1994. It is also one of the few companies in the world that manufactures high-pressure oxygen boosters, which can fill oxygen cylinders to 200 bar of oxygen produced by generators. Founder and president Bernard Zenou is also the chairman of MEDIGHAM, an association of on-site oxygen generator manufacturers. Gasworld asked him why the recent oxygen agreement has broken so much?
"The agreements between major natural gas companies and major low- and middle-income national relief funds demonstrate the sense of responsibility of these companies in the interruption of oxygen supply," he responded.
"In densely populated countries such as India and Brazil, which have suffered from the devastating effects of Covid-19 due to oxygen shortages, it is reported that the pandemic is more the result of logistics failures than lack of oxygen. In other words, oxygen is available Yes, but not where the hospital needs it most."
"This situation shows that due to the PSA oxygen generator, hospitals need to be provided with medical oxygen autonomy. This is the only solution to avoid transportation and logistics restrictions. This is the New Delhi High Court's plan to force all hospitals with more than 100 beds to install PSA oxygen generators. The reason for the machine."
Zenou refers to the news on May 20 (2021) that the Delhi High Court has required all major hospitals in the Indian capital with 100 or more beds to install PSA oxygen concentrators to prevent dependence on external oxygen supplies. It also pointed out that the capacity of these PSA plants should be at least twice their normal demand.
"It is important that in the plan to support and reorganize the medical oxygen supply chain, appropriate consideration should be given to the PSA solution. As an association of on-site oxygen concentrator manufacturers, MEDIGHAM is willing to assist in the development of this plan."
Further understanding of the significance of these new oxygen agreements is to better understand their origins and their potential impact on the future. In many ways, this is a case back to the future of medical oxygen use. This is not only about the world beyond Covid-19, but also about fighting the pandemic.
Gasworld understands that the basis of the agreement can be traced back to 2012/13, when the "Get Oxygen" initiative was designed to deliver oxygen to low- and middle-income countries, where it was not widely available at all. For example, preventable deaths due to pneumonia were too common. From an industrial gas point of view, Air Liquide is at the forefront of this work.
Greenslade explained: "This is a long process. Since 2012/13, I have been studying the acquisition of oxygen. Long before the pandemic, we identified it as a low- and middle-income country (LMIC). ) Risk. We are mainly talking about Africa, Asia and Latin America-and the southern part of the world-where we already have many hospitals without any oxygen, liquids or plants or concentrators. Oxygen-related deaths mainly occur in these areas Among children-for example, children for whom we do not have access to oxygen, such as children with pneumonia."
"We are working on this. It was when I first contacted Air Liquide a few years ago. I built an alliance, and every breath is important alliance, and we started talking to the industry. They have always been great. They have always been great. I’ve been chatting around the table. But I think before Covid, there was no obvious way to attract companies—because the government did not fund oxygen, the global health agency did not fund it, and it was almost as if the industry had no partners on the other end. The same table."
Read more: Thinking about the new era of medical oxygen
In many ways, the rest is history, and despite being so frustrating, it is frustrating that it took so many years and a global pandemic before oxygen was recognized in the public health system. When Covid-19 struck and the working group realized that access to oxygen would have a new and even more urgent meaning, it worked tirelessly in the process of seeking cooperation.
The oxygen supply agreement in low- and middle-income countries is clearly a breakthrough for the rest of the pandemic, and the "big vision" here is to create a lasting way to obtain medical oxygen. Pneumonia will still exist for a long time after Covid-19; the original reason for getting oxygen in 2012 will still exist 10 years later, 2022 and beyond. This is about a world beyond Covid.
Read more: Oxygen is now part of the public health infrastructure
Unitaid, the leader of the working group, mentioned this vision and the opportunity to "change the course of history" when it was announced in June. Executive Director Dr. Philippe Duneton said: "We welcome the cooperation between Air Liquide and Linde. This is the first time such an agreement has been reached to help promote equitable access to oxygen, which is an essential life-saving medicine. We hope other oxygen Suppliers can now follow suit and join the negotiating table."
"For the Covid-19 pandemic and other areas where medical oxygen is very important but has been lacking, including pneumonia control, treatment of women with complications during childbirth and trauma, this is a real opportunity to change the course of history and patience."
The Every Breath Counts Alliance today released a new report on pneumonia treatment and control methods.
The first signs of a breakthrough new medical oxygen agreement in the summer have been shown in Zambia, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) has been working with Afrox to maximize the supply of oxygen to all.
After receiving funding from the African Development Fund, South Sudan installed the first oxygen generator at the Juba Teaching Hospital in response to the country's ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
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