Summary:
The Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy of Delhi 2021 was approved by the Delhi Cabinet on August 3.
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The paranoia is still prevalent of the third wave of covid-19 and states and government has been doing their best to make their respective states self sufficient for production of medical oxygen, this was not in good shape during the second wave of covid.
Delhi government’s policy to make the city “self-reliant" in production of medical oxygen to tackle any COVID-19 crisis as seen during the second wave or any other medical emergency in the future, has been notified, officials said on Friday.
The Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy of Delhi 2021 was approved by the Delhi Cabinet on August 3.
“The ongoing COVID-19 crisis fuelled by a new 2021 strain of the virus has put an enormous pressure on existing healthcare infrastructure, including medical logistics, in the NCT of Delhi," reads the gazette notification dated August 19.
A large number of Covid patients need continuous oxygen support at hospitals and at homes.
This sudden increased demand coupled with negligible oxygen production in the state has necessitated dependence on resources outside Delhi, it said.
“As the number of patients requiring oxygen support increased in a very short span of time, the pressure on supply of medical oxygen to hospitals was significantly strained, leading to notable delay in movement of oxygen from outside Delhi," it said.
Though the present situation is better, but a similar crisis may reoccur in future and it is needed to be better equipped to manage such a situation in future, reads the notification.
“This policy has been introduced with an aim to make Delhi self-reliant in production of medical oxygen to meet with any such crisis or medical emergency in future," it said.
The objective of the policy is to increase production of oxygen in Delhi through setting up of either new manufacturing enterprises or expanding the production capacity of existing units for uninterrupted oxygen supply to hospitals or nursing homes during the health crisis caused by COVID-19 or otherwise," it reads.
The policy also seeks to facilitate storage and transportation of medical oxygen in Delhi.
The objective of the Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy of Delhi 2021 is to ensure time-bound fulfillment of several targets by incentivising early investment in the production or storage infrastructure for medical oxygen, including setting up of liquid oxygen (LOX) manufacturing facilities of minimum 50 MT capacity, up to a total of 100 MT.
Non-captive oxygen generation plants (PSA/Air Separation Unit technology) of minimum 10 MT and maximum 50 MT capacity up to 100 MT is also one of the targets.