Page 14 - GHES-2-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Medical oxygen during COVID-19 pandemic

3.7. Oxygen cylinders and concentrators INS Jalashwa, Indian Navy’s Operation Samudra Setu

India ramped up its oxygen reserves to combat the COVID- II transported 18 cryogenic oxygen tanks (15 filled with
19 pandemic, equipping itself with over 113,000 oxygen LMO), along with other COVID-19 medical supplies,
concentrators and 400,000 cylinders. This impressive including 3,650 oxygen cylinders and 39 ventilators from
stockpile includes: Brunei and Singapore to Visakhapatnam on May 23, 2021
• 99,000 concentrators: Sourced through Oil and (Ministry of Defence, 2021).
Natural Gas Corporation under the PM CARES 3.10. Infrastructure augmentation
initiative, specifically targeting rural areas.
• 14,000 concentrators: Part of the ECRP, ensuring An abrupt rise has been observed in the number of oxygen-
support beyond PM CARES (Ministry of Finance, supported beds, ICU beds, and ventilator beds, from
2023). 57,924 to 265,046 beds, within 6 months from April 2020
• Over 400,000 cylinders: Distributed across states, UTs, to October 2020. The number of ICU and ventilator beds
and central hospitals. This distribution includes: also tripled by the end of October 2020 (Lalwani, 2020).
• 100,000 cylinders: Supplied by CMSS in 2020. 3.11. Augmentation in the availability of tankers
• 130,000 cylinders: Provided by CMSS in 2021.
• 150,000 SPO -based oxygen control systems As of May 2021, India had 1,681 oxygen tankers with a
2
cylinders: Developed by DRDO in 2021. capacity of 23,056 MT (Ministry of Commerce & Industry,
• 23,000 cylinders: Received through foreign aid. 2021). During the second wave, endeavors were undertaken
• 14,000 D-Type cylinders: Approved for to enhance the number of oxygen transport vehicles by
distribution by MoHFW with UNICEF/ADB repurposing half of the current nitrogen and argon tankers,
support (Ministry of Finance, 2023). resulting in the conversion of approximately 1,098 tankers.
In addition, Messrs Indian Oil Corporation Limited (M/s
To ensure efficient allocation and management, states IOCL) repurposed both new and modified LNG tankers
are required to: for the purpose of transporting medical oxygen. At
• Record recipient points and receipt details: Using the present, the collective count of oxygen transport tankers
OxyCare Management Information System (OC-MIS) stands at 2,540, with a combined capacity of 34,588 MT
portal at the district level (Ministry of Finance, 2023). (PTI, 2021b). Compared to March 31, 2020, there is a 36%
• Prioritize rural areas: PM CARES concentrators are increase in LMO road tankers and a 58% enhancement in
specifically designated for rural health-care facilities. the transportation capacity of the LMO road tankers.
This comprehensive approach to oxygen supply
demonstrates GoI’s commitment to strengthening its 3.12. Augmentation in storage capacity
health-care infrastructure for future challenges. Presently, the number of LMO tanks in hospitals is 1,242,
with a capacity of 15,622 MT. Compared to March 31, 2020,
3.8. Supply of medical oxygen when there were 609 tanks with a capacity of 6,759 MT,
To avoid stockouts, a system for the advanced planning this represents a 104 % increase in the number of tanks and
and timely replenishment of oxygen through health a 131 % increase in storage capacity (Das et al., 2022). This
facility-wise oxygen inventory management has been augmentation was facilitated by the relaxation of rules by
enabled on the GoI’s COVID-19 portal. In addition, a the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO)
“Green Corridor” for 24×7 unrestricted, seamless, and and constant follow-up with states by the GoI. The data
unhindered inter-state and intra-state movement of LMO gathered by PESO includes licensed storage tanks in both
tankers has been set up (Kaul, 2020). government and private hospitals.

3.9. Transportation of oxygen 3.13. Capacity building
As part of emergency response efforts to mitigate oxygen The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the
scarcity, the implementation of air transport for empty Indian Navy, and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
tankers has been initiated to expedite turnaround time. have developed training programs for the operation and
The Ministry of Defence is collaborating with oxygen maintenance of PSA plants. These programs have identified
suppliers to facilitate airlifts, while the Indian Air Force is and trained personnel across the country (Indian Navy, 2021).
undertaking the transportation of ISO tankers both within The training, as per the OC-MIS portal and the Ministry of
and beyond national borders (PTI, 2021a). Railways have Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, includes:
been used for long-distance transport of tankers through • 10 h for day-to-day operations: 6,900 candidates
the roll-on-roll-off (RORO) service (Das, 2021). Through trained

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 6 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2023