The lack of oxygen amid its outburst in COVID-19 cases is troubling India – and experts say it is the result of insufficient spending on its healthcare system and the government’s failure to prepare for the virus.
“It’s disappointing. We are not a rich country. There has always been an inadequate health budget, ”said an immunologist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Dr. Vinita Bal, Told NPR.
He said the county only allocates about 1 percent of its GDP on public health – less than in countries such as Brazil, which spends 9 percent and the US, where it is about 18 percent.
“One percent of GDP is a pathetic state of affairs. It is nothing! ”She told the outlet.
The government has been criticized for not making a hailing call to increase supplies for a second wave of epidemics.
Oxygen demand in India has increased seven-fold since last month, as the country has reached a record-breaking number of cases, recording more than 400,000 infections in two times.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has insisted that there is enough oxygen in the country, but supply chain issues have made it a hindrance in the capacity of transport where it is needed.
Most of the oxygen is produced in the eastern parts of India, while the demand is increasing in the northern and western regions.
“We really have additional production and storage [of oxygen] In eastern India and other regions, but Delhi has problems, ”said SD Mishra, who oversees the supply of oxygen to the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization, told NPR.
The US and other countries have also shipped empty cylinders and oxygen concentrators, which help recycle oxygen from the air for medical use. But reportedly the machines have been slowed to run through customs.
For some patients, the race to get oxygen in hospitals has not been fast enough.
Around two dozen people died on Tuesday after allegedly running out of oxygen at Chamarajanagar district hospital in the southern state of Karnataka.
When delivery was delayed by 90 minutes, more than a dozen patients allegedly died at Batra Hospital in New Delhi.
Such situations have forced families to try to buy oxygen on their own to save their sick loved ones.
Some have turned to the black market. A man from the northern city of Lucknow, Ahmed Abbas, said he took 45,000 rupees, or about $ 600, for an oxygen cylinder.
“They told me to pay in advance and take it [up] The next day from him, “34-year-old Told the AFP.
Others are also desperate to get their hands on an empty cylinder.
As per the NPR report, Sanchi Gupta, who is on ventilator at Sanchi Hospital, said, “We are not getting a full cylinder, so we are trying to find an empty cylinder.”
“What’s happening with the government? Why don’t we have oxygen? ” she cry.
With post wires
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