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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWith covid-19 increased cases, many patients were admitted, hence the insufficiency of medical oxygen; sometimes patients had to be transferred because the hospital in which they are admitted doesn\u2019t have enough oxygen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPatient must rely on bulk, expensive and easily depleted oxygen cylinders or small oxygen concentrators which are not sufficient for critical patients\u201d said Dr. Biot. \u201cOxygen is the single most important medicine for severe covid-19 patients, yet oxygen supply is often insufficient because of infrastructures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With covid-19, cylinders\u2019 circus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have admitted a covid-19 patient under oxygen, and he consumes the oxygen you had, you then take the oxygen cylinder and go refill it at the oxygen plant which is far from there, you put the cylinder in the transportation car and bring it to the patient, he then consumes it and you go back to refill, it\u2019s an endless process,\u201d said Dr. Menelas Nkeshimana; a sub cell lead covid-19 case management at Rwanda joint task force for covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe transportation of oxygen cylinders is not secure at all; it requires specific cars with high precautions, and it\u2019s so much costly. The oxygen in the cylinder is compressed with high pressure; any mistake can make it burst like a bomb, a simple traffic accident with a car transporting oxygen cylinders can create an unimaginable scandal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cylinders bother patients and medical staffs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mama Munyana (nickname) 55 and mother of four, tested positive for covid-19 and was admitted to Nyarugenge Hospital located at Nyamirambo center, soon after, she was put under oxygen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere you see people covered in white costume carrying that long cylinder, then you realize that they are putting it around you, except that you are fighting to breath, you have no choice at all, but that long cylinder is so scary to see.\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solange Mutimukeye (names changed) is a nurse at Rwamagana hospital; she says that it was difficult whenever a patient was admitted under oxygen, because they had to be there every time to watch over the cylinder so that they can change the emptied one by a new one on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was not an easy job to carry that cylinder of more than 10 kg and keep vigilance so that you could replace it once emptied by the patient under oxygen.\u201d Said the nurse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Better having a source than fetching away<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery household need water, but would preferably like to have a source of water than going to fetch it elsewhere\u201d, Dr. Nkeshimana comparing the importance of having the medical oxygen plants inside hospitals than going to get it with cylinders from far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Nkeshimana says that all the struggles and risks in using oxygen cylinders led to the improvement and finally it was possible to produce medical oxygen within hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are different sizes of machines that transform air to medical oxygen;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As of September 2020, the country has seven operational public oxygen plants producing roughly 7,000 cylinders (50L) per month, with a total maximum oxygen production capacity of 355 cylinders (50L) each day or around 10,800 cylinders per month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe oxygen plant are machines that are stationed somewhere in the hospital, it transforms the atmospheric air into medical oxygen, then connected by pipes it brings medical oxygen through hospital\u2019s walls and get to the patient\u2019s ward and straight to his bed. Nowadays, we have oxygen plant in every hospital, and our target is to have it in every health facility in Rwanda,\u201d said Dr. Nkeshimana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officials say that the oxygen plants acquired are enough, but the government decided to buy more to avoid any shortage in case the situation with new variants of covid-19 might get out of hand. Rwanda spent over Rwf4 billion (approximately $4 million) to import oxygen plants to increase local production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Medical staffs were relieved<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut now the oxygen comes from hospital\u2019s walls, I don\u2019t know how they did it but it made our job easier because we no longer carry the cylinders, we only put patients under oxygen without worrying that it will be emptied,\u201d Mutimukeye said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some patients who have been admitted to hospitals where the indoor produced medical oxygen is used, say that it\u2019s comfortable and secure; it\u2019s the case with Vivian Uwizeye a.k.a Miss Vivi or Miss Rwanda heavy weight, who was among the most affected by covid-19 in Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Niyingabira was looking after her pregnant wife in Masaka hospital, and it happened that she was put under oxygen; he affirms that the patient\u2019s room looks cleaner when the oxygen is coming from wall to the patient\u2019s bed than having cylinder around the bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you see a patient under oxygen and the cylinder is around there, you will just say that your patient is not fine. But when it comes without seeing the source, even if it\u2019s also oxygen, at least you can feel secure in that room,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Nkeshimana says that now in Rwanda they have enough oxygen to serve any possible number of patients once admitted in hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even after covid-19, the use of medical oxygen produced within hospitals will still be abundant, not only for covid-19 patients but also for any other patient that can be needing it, either in maternity or pediatric, anywhere, concluded Dr. Nkeshimana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There some limitations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of limitations is the electricity costs that are too high. Officials say the cost of running oxygen plants is rising due to higher electricity charges. Currently, hospitals are charged a residential power tariff of Rwf227 ($0.27) per kilowatt. They want the government to review their tariff structure and get moved to non-residential power tariff of Rwf126 ($0.15) per kilowatt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA hospital is a lifesaving facility and it should be charged non-residential power tariffs,\u201d said Augustin Sendegeya, the Managing Director of University Central Hospital of Butare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abdallah Utumatwishima, the managing director of Ruhengeri hospital told Rwanda Today that the hospital currently spends a lot of money on electricity bills partly due to higher costs associated with running an oxygen plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the management of Ruhengeri Hospital, it costs them over Rwf266,000 ($264) every day to make 900 liters of pure oxygen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the hospital initially sought to cut costs by manufacturing its own oxygen, it says its electricity bill has more than doubled from about Rwf4 million ($4,680) to Rwf8 million ($9,360) per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was not frequent in Rwanda to admit patients under oxygen in hospitals before covid-19, except for special cases; medical … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","latest_post"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fezaa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/medical-oxygen-1024x653.jpg\")
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