Two WHO supported medical oxygen plants inaugurated in Bhutan

Two oxygen generator plants were today inaugurated in Bhutan with an aim to strengthen health systems resilience and enhance emergency preparedness and response capacities across the country.

The Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants have been set up in Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital, in the national capital, Thimphu, and at Mongar Regional Referral Hospital, a key regional tertiary care facility.

This is the first WHO support medical oxygen project in the WHO South-East Asia Region.

Addressing the event organized for inauguration of the oxygen plants, the Minister of Health for Bhutan, Ms Dasho Dechen Wangmo, said, I thank Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh for stressing that oxygen is a life saving commodity when it comes to the health sector. Today, the biggest satisfaction we have is that we can generate oxygen. These plants are a statement of self-sufficiency. We look forward to more meaningful collaboration with WHO – our most valuable partner in health.

On request from the Ministry of Health Bhutan, WHO provided specifications and funding for the project, while the equipment was purchased from a company in Slovakia and installation completed by a technical associate in Nepal.

Joining the event virtually, the Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, said “the project has two critical values – the first being collaboration, and the second identifying and applying lessons learned, which we in the Region have long prioritized.“

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant gaps in medical oxygen systems, with tragic results, which cannot be repeated. Together, we must therefore ensure that in all countries, medical oxygen systems can withstand even the most critical shocks, as highlighted in our regional roadmap on health security and health system resilience for emergencies, she said.

“These plants will help strengthen health systems resilience … not just for outbreaks of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 and pneumonia, but for a range of conditions, including sepsis, trauma and complications of pregnancy or birth,” the Regional Director said.