Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Ghalib*, a nurse at Qamishli City’s Jian COVID-19 hospital, had one major fear for treating her patients—running out of oxygen supplies. With COVID-19 rapidly spreading across northeast Syria over this past year, the number of patients arriving in need of oxygen was growing, and the hospital’s supply was quickly being depleted. 

“Every day, we’d receive between 40 and 50 new patients requiring oxygen,” Ghalib recalled.  As the hospital’s patient load increased, Ghalib and his colleagues feared an oxygen shortage would force them to make difficult decisions, prioritizing certain patients over others. 

At the Kalasah Health Center, 48 miles away from Qamishli City, Dr. Hussain* faced similar challenges. “During the peak of the COVID-19 wave, the health center wasn’t able to absorb all of its COVID patients,” Dr. Hussain explained. “One reason for this was a severe lack of oxygen supplies—there was a massive difference between the amount of oxygen produced and what the health sector needed.” 

Many public hospitals and health centers in the northeast were unable to access the needed quantities of oxygen due to demand surpassing production. Specifically, the existing oxygen-bottling plants in northeast Syria were old and not properly maintained over the years to be able to meet production needs. Although oxygen cylinders are provided for free for public medical facilities and sold at a reduced price to private hospitals and clinics, there was not enough production of oxygen to meet patient needs. There were points during previous COVID-19 waves when Dr. Hussain was forced to transfer patients to private hospitals and clinics, due to severe oxygen shortages in the Kalasah Health Center. 

As the pandemic continued, the USAID Essential Services project worked with the Jazeera Region Health Commission to identify gaps in COVID-19 treatment. Discussions with local health authorities and healthcare providers revealed a critical need for more oxygen supplies.

Similar to USAID’s previous work in Deir ez-Zour governorate, the Essential Services project worked with the Jazeera Region Health Commission to design a medical-grade oxygen bottling plant with the capacity to produce 340 pressurized cylinders per day—a 240 percent increase in the Health Commission’s capacity, which benefits COVID-19 patients and other patients in need of medical-grade oxygen. 

The recently opened plant is now helping to meet Hasakah governorate’s demand by providing 63 hospitals and clinics with cylinders of more than 95 percent pure oxygen, in line with the World Health Organization’s technical specifications. In addition, it is generating additional revenue for the Jazeera Region Health Commission, most of which is put back into the operating costs of the oxygen-bottling plants, ensuring sustainability for years to come.    

“The provision of oxygen positively impacts our work—lowering our stress and allowing us to provide health services to residents,” Ghalib explains.

The medical-grade oxygen plant is just one example of USAID’s efforts to help local officials rehabilitate and strengthen northeast Syria’s healthcare infrastructure against emerging COVID-19 variants. 

*Names have been changed.

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Canisters connected to be filled with medical-grade oxygen.
USAID Essential Services Program
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Oxygen purifying devices in the oxygen bottling plant.
USAID Essential Services Program
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