FG has made transformative investments in Nigeria’s oxygen ecosystem – NACA DG
By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –
The Federal Government has disclosed that it has made transformative investments to strengthen the oxygen ecosystem in Nigeria under the Global Fund C-19RM/HIV grant, coordinated by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).
This comes as the Federal Government donated medical equipment to Osun State through the Global Fund-supported oxygen initiative.
The Director-General of NACA, Dr Temitope Ilori, made the announcement in Osogbo during the inauguration of the Global Fund-supported oxygen and other health products investments in the state. She said the government has significantly enhanced the nation’s capacity to respond to medical oxygen and respiratory care (MORC) and other critical medical emergencies.
According to her, 12 cryogenic/liquid oxygen (LOX) tanks of 10,000 litres each were procured and installed in selected federal tertiary hospitals across the six geo-political zones. Two of these tanks have been installed at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and are awaiting flushing and filling to ensure accessible, affordable, and safe medical-grade oxygen supply in the South-West.
Speaking on the intervention in southwestern Nigeria and Osun State in particular, Ilori said Osun has received one of the most comprehensive oxygen system investments in the region, including strengthened infrastructure at OAUTH, the State Hospital Management Board, and expanded medical-grade oxygen production at Asubiaro and Iwo.
She emphasised that Osun is now equipped to deliver affordable, accessible, and dependable medical-grade oxygen therapy. “Through these sustained partnerships and targeted investments, Osun State has recorded exceptional progress in expanding critical care infrastructure. Our tertiary and secondary health facilities are now better equipped to manage respiratory illnesses, severe COVID-19 cases, paediatric emergencies, and other life-threatening conditions requiring oxygen therapy,” she said.
Medical equipment donated includes oxygen cylinders, hand-held and table-top pulse oximeters, oxygen concentrators, UPS units, oxygen analysers, flow splitters, oxygen regulators, oxygen flow metres, humidifiers, nasal cannulas, PSA plants, patient monitors, foam packing units, oxygen sensors, and rainbow sets — distributed across the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Ila Orangun, Osun State Hospitals Management Board, and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile-Ife.
