HEALTH CS KAGWE REVEALS WORRYING NEWS TO KENYANS

In a press briefing on Monday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the country is running low on quality cylinders in health facilities.

• He urged those using cylinders for non-covid care to surrender them immediately.

The government is now seeking to increase the capacity of gas cylinders required to care for Covid-19 patients.

In a press briefing on Monday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the country is running low on quality cylinders in health facilities.

This comes as 121 patients lay in the Intensive Care Unit with 32 on ventilatory support, 82 on supplemental oxygen.

Kagwe appealed to Kenyans to present any excess medical cylinders to hospitals that have patients in need of oxygen.

He urged those using cylinders for non-covid care to surrender them immediately.

“I don’t think people are appreciating just how important it is that we don’t just have cylinders lying around when people are dying because of lack of oxygen” Kagwe said.

He noted that there are facilities that are using cylinders per patient which should not be the case.

According to Kagwe, one cylinder can be used by a number of people if the oxygen is piped to the bedsides.

“We have around 70 oxygen plants in Kenya and most of them are in despair. We need them to get working,” he said.

However, Kagwe noted that most of the plants cannot be repaired in the time since their sources are suspect.

“For example, the oxygen plant in Kenyatta hospital was supplied by the then Slovakian Republic of which the country itself does not exist,” Kagwe said.

Going forward, the Ministry of Health working with the county governments will ensure standardization of oxygen plants.

“It is not just enough that we produce oxygen, the purity and quality are very important,” he said.

By The Star