The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Wednesday, inaugurated oxygen desk committee members in Ebonyi state.
The committee was inaugurated to provide support for the development of a state oxygen plan that outlines the Ebonyi state plans for the sustainable scale-up of oxygen in the state.
The inauguration of the committee was done in collaboration with the Ebonyi state Ministry of Health, at Osborne la Palm Hotels Abakaliki. It is a two-day programme on Ebonyi state medical oxygen inauguration and sensitisation meeting.
Ebonyi state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezurike, during the inauguration of the committee, noted that members were drawn from the ministry, the tertiary health institutions, and the partners. That they are to manage the oxygen plant that is donated to the state by UNICEF and other development partners.
Umezurike said, “We are here to inaugurate the oxygen desk committee that is made up of members drawn from the Ministry of Health, the tertiary health institutions, and the partners who are to manage the oxygen plant that is donated to Ebonyi state by UNICEF and other development partners.
“The essence of it is to build our residence in oxygen supply and distribution because, during the COVID-19 outbreak, all the health systems realized that there is weakness in their systems including Nigeria and the developed countries.
“We found out that everything became very scarce, even oxygen, face mask, hand gloves everything needed for intervention became in short supply and everybody was scrambling for the few, that is what led to this manufacturing of oxygen plants in every geopolitical zone.”
