US$ 83 million of investments from Unitaid to address global inequities in access to oxygen will drive long term benefits.

Unitaid has invested US$ 83 million to date to address global inequities in access to oxygen in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, filling an immediate access gap for safe and affordable oxygen to those who needed it most and laying the groundwork to improve access to oxygen over the long term.

These investments support the work of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Oxygen Emergency Taskforce, led by Unitaid, to expand sustainable access to adequate, affordable oxygen solutions such as bulk liquid oxygen, oxygen generation systems, and other important oxygen equipment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The Unitaid-funded grants have helped to increase liquid oxygen supplies, lower costs, strengthen infrastructure, expand technical capacity, and ensure safe use of medical oxygen.

As part of broader partner efforts to assess the oxygen needs of over 100 countries and access funding available through the Global Fund, the World Bank, and other partners’ funding mechanisms, Unitaid’s investments directly supported this work in 18 countries.

Among other significant progress and achievements made to date, Unitaid has procured more than US$ 15 million in emergency supplies, delivering nearly 30,000 cylinders, 2,000 concentrators, more than 5,000 pulse oximeters – an essential portable device that can detect low oxygen in the blood – and 3 PSA plants for oxygen, to 33 countries.

Thanks to Unitaid’s leadership, an agreement with two major gas companies, Air Liquide and Linde Group, was successfully brokered securing ~15% price reductions for bulk liquid oxygen versus current pricing, between 10 to 15% reductions for cylinders, and up to 43% reductions in filled cylinder pricing, paving the way for long term agreements for access to liquid oxygen. With this, 19 tanks for bulk liquid oxygen for LMICs were reserved and countries such as Zambia and Ghana were able to meet surge demand across several hospitals.

Unitaid is exploring how to support countries to build robust oxygen systems that can meet current needs and prepare for future health emergencies, and to ensure the market is ready to respond to demand surges. For that purpose, Unitaid and MedAccess, will launch in the coming days a call for expressions of interest to local and regional manufacturers of liquid and gaseous oxygen to receive financial and technical support to expand affordable oxygen supply in sub-Saharan Africa. The end goal is to identify opportunities to support suppliers and increase the availability and affordability of medical oxygen for countries.

But more funding is needed to scale-up medical oxygen supply and prepare countries for future health threats.

Oxygen is a lifesaving treatment but also a high-return health investment that will keep on saving lives beyond the pandemic and significantly reduce deaths among newborns, children, women in childbirth, and adults with both communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Investing in oxygen will pay dividends and going forward, is a critical foundation for future health emergencies. Therefore, Unitaid urgently calls on other donors for more funding for medical oxygen to help close the US$1 billion funding gap in the oxygen response.