Health experts have urged the government to urgently look for alternative sources of oxygen import and adopt medium-and long-term national plans to increase local production and supply of the lifesaving gas.
They put forward the recommendation as a pre-cautionary measure to quickly respond to any possible third wave or sudden surge in coronavirus infections.
The suggestion came in response to the FE question about what preparation the country should take to effectively face such an unwanted situation in the days ahead.
The experts also stressed the need for looking into alternative sources of importing oxygen - be it in the form of gas or liquid - to reduce dependence on India as the neighbouring country was struggling to meet its domestic demand amid massive surge in infections.
Import of liquid oxygen through Benapole land port remained suspended at present.
But both the forms of oxygen are required for treatment, said the experts. The government, however, claimed that there was no oxygen supply shortage in the country.
Health expert Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director (disease control) at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) told the FE that the government should focus on local production of oxygen and equip the district hospitals with central oxygen supply system.
"We need to have an experts' analysis on the exact need of oxygen and assess the production capacity and stock to know the exact situation of oxygen availability," he said.
The analysis should be conducted on the number of patients in the hospitals, the demand for oxygen per patient and the demand-supply gap, he said. "Thus, we can go for a mid-term plan to address the oxygen demand amid the pandemic," he added.
"We should also have a long term plan. We can look for alternative sourcing apart from India to ensure an uninterrupted supply. Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern countries could also be the sources," Dr Ahmed mentioned.
He also suggested keeping financial preparation and holding primary negotiations to import oxygen from these sources and complete initial proceedings of procurement in advance to save time and lives from any possible disaster again.
"We don't know what is going to happen in future," he said, citing the disastrous situation in India.
Dr Ali Abrar, assistant director at Bangladesh Specialised Hospital in Dhaka, said that the demand for oxygen reduced to some extent in the last couple of days as the rush of Covid patients somewhat declined.
"Currently, there is no oxygen supply shortage as we have central oxygen supply and we see less pressure as 40 Covid-dedicated seats out of total 100 are now vacant. However, all the 16 ICU beds are still occupied," he said.
"If we can develop the central oxygen system in the district level hospitals, the rush of patients to Dhaka will also be reduced. Then, we'll be capable to deal with any possible surge in infection in the coming days."
More than half of the district hospitals, 35-37 of the total 64, do not have such central oxygen connection. However, the DGHS has a long-term plan to bring those hospitals under the system, officials said.
"We hope that the capacity will be achieved soon," said an official.
The experts were also against the retail sales of oxygen cylinders for personal use and called for ensuring proper monitoring on the market as the retail sales may cause hazards.
Director (Hospital) at DGHS Dr. Md. Farid Hossain Miah told the FE that the government was working closely with the private companies to set up plants locally for oxygen production and raise the production capacity of the existing ones.
He said that Linde Bangladesh proposed building another factory in Narayanganj and the government already requested them to go for production as early as they can manage it.
"There is no shortage of oxygen in Bangladesh and we have a lot of production capacity right now," Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque said on Tuesday.
He said the production of oxygen in the country is about 150 tonnes in the private sector and it is liquid oxygen. And, gas mask oxygen production is 250 to 300 tonnes. And, the daily oxygen demand in the country is 125 to 150 tonnes.
He said that so far, Bangladesh was in a fairly good position, and there would be no oxygen crisis in the country if there is no sudden extra pressure.
The National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 has urged the government to take all necessary steps, especially to prevent the 'oxygen crisis', highlighting the danger of deteriorating situation due to India, even though the country's infection rate is declining.
The committee in a statement on Thursday said that although the infection rate in Bangladesh was declining, the situation might change due to the infection in India. And, thus, overall preparation must be taken especially to prevent the oxygen crisis.
