For the past two years, Dr. Asfari* would start his shift at a local public hospital by taking stock of the day’s limited supply of medical grade oxygen. As head of the hospital’s neonatal department, Dr. Asfari would spend most shifts anxious that a patient in need would arrive after their last oxygen cylinder was consumed.
“Without an adequate supply of oxygen, hospitals aren’t capable of providing even basic services,” Dr. Asfari explained.
Dr. Asfari estimates that nearly 60 percent of children who visit health centers suffer from respiratory issues. Hospitals in the Deir ez-Zour region of northeast Syria have struggled with a high demand and low supply of oxygen for years, but with the emergence of COVID-19, the need has become critical.
There’s a continual—and now with COVID-19, a growing—demand for [medical grade] oxygen due to a high prevalence of asthma and other respiratory illnesses,” Dr. Asfari said.
Barriers to Oxygen Therapy in Deir ez-Zour
Without local production of this essential health commodity, scarcity and demand exacerbated the problem. Hospitals were forced to import oxygen cylinders from neighboring governorates, which drove up the price and left the region with an overall shortage.
It could cost $10 per day to receive oxygen at a hospital in Deir ez-Zour, a price well beyond the reach of most people in the area. “Families were forced to sell their home belongings to afford oxygen,” Dr. Abd Al Fattah,* a pulmonologist at a local public hospital, explained. The transportation costs and the high demand turned a basic health commodity into a luxury.
Some families resorted to private hospitals, which tended to be better stocked than public hospitals. But even for those who sought private hospitals, there was no guarantee that the oxygen supplies would meet the daily needs of Deir ez-Zour’s population, home to an estimated 1.5 million people. In many cases, oxygen simply was not available.
The situation was dire.
Bridging the gap
As part of USAID’s work to restore access to essential services that address community needs, build local capacity, and support communities to rebuild, the USAID Essential Services project worked with residents and members of the local health committee to identify investments that could best support progress and self-reliance in Deir ez-Zour. Stories like Dr. Asfari’s led USAID to partner with the Deir ez-Zour Health Committee to rehabilitate an old warehouse and transform it into a medical grade oxygen refilling plant.
To make this transformation, the Deir ez–Zour Health Committee, through a grant from USAID, repaired the building’s structure. To make it operational, they then installed an air pressure and purification unit, an oxygen separation unit, and a distribution and packing unit.
The new plant now produces approximately 100 medical oxygen cylinders over an eight-hour period. The locally-sourced oxygen cylinders are now being refilled, transported, and distributed to local hospitals.
Physicians and members of the Deir ez-Zour Health Committee have high hopes for the new oxygen refilling plant. In addition to being able to provide life-saving oxygen to their patients and helping to curb preventable deaths, they also place hope in longer term efforts to fund continued health care improvements.
After addressing the oxygen shortage at public hospitals and medical centers, we’ll sell the surplus to private hospitals and possibly other industries that require oxygen,” said Aya,* a leader in the Deir ez-Zour Health Committee. The oxygen plant, which used to represent a shortcoming for the Health Committee, will become a source of revenue.
USAID will continue to work with local partners to rehabilitate health infrastructure, strengthen local health systems, and deliver health services to communities.
*Names have been changed to pseudonyms.