Amidst huge crisis of oxygen cylinders in hospitals many critically ill patients, suffering from breathing difficulties caused by mostly coronavirus, are being deprived of proper treatment in Chattogram, alleged many attendants.
This situation persists despite the claims by the largest medical oxygen producer and supplier in the country - Linde Limited Bangladesh that they have no shortage of oxygen cylinders.
Of the hospitals in Chattogram treating people infected with the coronavirus, only two have central oxygen supply system that gets oxygen from Linde limited through a motor voucher.
Other hospitals rely on portable cylinders. Many hospital authorities claim that they did not get minimum oxygen supply.
Doctors treating COVID-19 patients mentioned that if adequate amount of oxygen are supplied to patients there is no need for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or ventilator support.
Dr Abdur Rob Masum, the focal person for corona treatment at the Chattogram General Hospital said that patients here had to be given oxygen from cylinders, supply of which is absolutely inadequate as there is no central oxygen supply system here.
Dr Masum said, “We advise attendants of patients to bring the required oxygen cylinders from the market, but only a small number can collect them as they are not readily available in the market.
Due to such problem many patents are facing risk of dying without the support of ICU or ventilator service which is also very limited.”
He continued, “If we can only ensure enough oxygen supply to the patients, I believe we could have saved many lives. Around 30 COVID infected patients have died in this hospital largely due to lack of oxygen supply on time.”
Four companies, including Linde Bangladesh Limited, a state-sponsored multinational company, is producing medical oxygen. Linde Bangladesh is supplying about eighty percent of the country's total medical oxygen demand.
From Linde’s Chattogram factory, 14,000 liters of oxygen was supplied to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, Maternal and Child Hospital, and another hospital run by the armed forces.
In addition, four hundred cylinders of 200 cubic feet of oxygen and three hundred cylinders of 48 cubic feet are supplied daily at the retail level. An officer of the Linde limited in Bangladesh said that there is enough stock of cylinders with a required outfit including regulators.
Although the authorities have not been able to give a clear idea about the production and demand of oxygen in the country, Musfiq Akhtar, business head of the Linde Bangladesh limited claimed that despite the increase in demand in the corona epidemic, there is no shortage of medical oxygen in the country.
“As it is a multinational company (Linde Bangladesh) we have to follow many regulations as I am not also authorized to provide information to any media. Only the head of the company can provide the required information. However, the head of Linde Bangladesh is not in the country now,” He added.
Eighty percent of corona patients are receiving treatment at home, many of whom have difficulty breathing, and doctors are advising them to use oxygen from cylinders. Sadly, there is huge shortage of oxygen cylinders in the market. There are no oxygen cylinders in the sales outlets in Chattogram city right at this moment.
“It is now quite difficult to find an oxygen cylinder in the city of Chattogram with 5,000 corona patients,” said Tohidul Islam, a volunteer of Halishohor Corona Isolation Center. He said that if you pay extra amount one may find one.
Describing his experiences, Touhidul said, "A few days ago I bought an oxygen cylinder for a critically ill patient for TK 16,000. But a day later I had to buy the same cylinder for another patient at a price of Tk 28,000.”
Providing oxygen support to Covid-19 patients is essential since most of them are suffering from respiratory problems and there is no regular format of treatment of COVID patients. So only oxygen can save critically ill corona patients along with other medications of course.
“The government should strictly monitor oxygen production and marketing,” said Tawhidul Islam, Executive Magistrate of Chattogram district administration adding, “Recently we found some fraud businessmen who are selling industrial oxygen (not medical oxygen) to retailers,” he added.
