The Vice Chancellor of David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, DUFUS, Ebonyi State, Professor Jesse Uneke, has raised concerns over the country’s medical oxygen system, saying Nigeria loses more than 600,000 people annually to challenges associated with the administration of medical oxygen.
Uneke, who is the Nigerian and State Lead/Principal Investigator of the EQUI-RESP Africa Research Project, disclosed this in Abakaliki during the First Stakeholders’ Engagement Event and Co-Creation Workshop on Medical Oxygen Economy.
The programme was organised by DUFUS in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, with support from the National Institute for Health and Research, NIHR, UK.
According to the Vice Chancellor, the deaths are largely preventable, but the country lacks adequate platforms where stakeholders in the medical oxygen sector can regularly engage on research, policy and practical solutions.
He said the second phase of the EQUI-RESP Africa project had therefore shifted from community-based respiratory health interventions to hospital-based research, with particular focus on medical oxygen and the oxygen economy.
Uneke disclosed that during the first phase of the project, interventions were carried out at a quarry site in Onueke, a rice mill in Abakaliki and a timber market.
He said between 300 and 400 people benefited from free medical interventions, including respiratory diagnoses, inhalers and health guidance.
The Vice Chancellor said Nigeria’s participation in the multinational research project was significant, noting that the EQUI-RESP Africa initiative is being implemented in five African countries, including Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, South Africa and Cameroon.
He added that Nigeria has two research centres under the project, located in Ebonyi and Lagos States.
Uneke explained that Ebonyi was selected because of the state’s enabling environment for research and collaboration between government and institutions.
He commended the administration of Governor Francis Nwifuru for supporting health-sector initiatives and creating an environment conducive to research and healthcare interventions.
Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, AE-FUTHA, Professor Robinson Onoh, commended the research initiative and the state government’s efforts to expand medical oxygen production.
Onoh said Ebonyi State previously had no functional oxygen production centre before the current administration, but now has multiple facilities producing medical oxygen.
He noted that the importance of adequate oxygen supply became particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the demand for medical oxygen increased significantly.
The AE-FUTHA Chief Medical Director disclosed that the teaching hospital is also home to one of the medical oxygen production centres in the state.
He commended Governor Nwifuru for creating an enabling environment for the establishment and expansion of oxygen production facilities, stressing that reliable access to medical oxygen remains critical to saving lives.
The stakeholders’ engagement brought together key actors in the medical oxygen sector to examine existing challenges and develop evidence-based strategies for improving oxygen availability, administration and healthcare outcomes in Nigeria.
