Where have those oxygen concentrators gone?

While many lie idle in the storerooms of organisations, a few are being put to good use

One of the most poignant images of the second wave was of COVID-19 positive people struggling to get medical oxygen. Non-governmental organisations, service groups, corporates and many individuals chipped in to procure oxygen cylinders/concentrators that became a life-saver for many. Remember the price of these devices had also skyrocketed due to the demand. Where are these equipment now?

Greater Chennai Corporation has sent the devices that it received through donations to its various Urban Primary Health Centres. “We received 760 devices from various groups including corporates, social groups and individuals and they are kept safe at our UPHCs,” says S Banumati, joint director/ additional city medical officer, Medical Service Department, Greater Chennai Corporation. She says a few of them are being used at these centres depending on the need.

Members of Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) ran various initiatives to ensure people got oxygen including deploying buses fitted with oxygen cylinders. In May, it had procured more than 40 oxygen concentrators and had even set up its own ‘Oxygen Concentrator Bank’. The organisation, however, is yet to take a final decision on these concentrators but plans to give them away to the government or a charitable hospital.