Months before the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic swept over India, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health in November last year had suggested the Center increase hospital beds and oxygen production. The Center is accused of ignoring the warning of oxygen shortages raised by them. Today, the nation is swept over by the ravaging wreck of the pandemic leaving many gasping for oxygen and many died due to lack of oxygen, leading to the hashtag on Twitter, #IndiaNeedsOxygen.
Citizens are raising voices such as “Why you ignored the warning of oxygen shortages raised in November by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health.” While the Parliamentary Panel asked the Center last year to increase oxygen production and said the total number of government hospital beds in the country was “grossly inadequate” keeping in view the rising incidence of COVID-19 cases, it is alleged that the Center did not pay any heed to this.
The public is also upset that the Center allowed Bharat Biotech to sell Covaxin at Rs 1,200 and there are different rates for the vaccine in different locations and hospitals.
Today, several states in India are undergoing a crisis of an acute shortage of medical oxygen. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, chaired by Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, had stated that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority must take appropriate measures for capping the price of oxygen cylinders in order that their availability, as well as affordability, is ensured.
“The Committee also recommends the government for encouraging adequate production of oxygen for ensuring its supply as per demand in the hospitals,” according to the report submitted in Parliament in November last year.
“As the numbers of cases were on the rise, a frantic search for vacant hospital beds became quite harrowing. Instances of patients being turned away from overburdened hospitals due to lack of vacant beds became the new normal. The scenario of patients holding oxygen cylinders rushing from pillar to post in search of bed in AIIMS Patna is a testimony to the fact that tears apart humanity,” it said.
Aggrieved at the poor state of the healthcare system, the panel recommended the government increase the investment in public health and take appropriate steps to decentralize healthcare services/facilities in the country.
According to the report, the Health and Family Welfare secretary had informed the committee on October 16 last year that the ministry had requested the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to fix the price of oxygen as non-invasive oxygen has been found to deliver good results.
“The overall production in the country is roughly in the region of 6,900 metric ton every day. Out of 6,900 metric ton, the highest consumption of medical oxygen was reported in mid-September, in and around 24th or 25th September, when the consumption was almost 3,000 metric ton of oxygen a day,” according to the report.
“The committee agrees with the department that the pandemic has led to an unprecedented increase in the demand for non-invasive oxygen cylinders and instances of lack of oxygen cylinders in the hospitals had also been reported,” according to the report.
India is grappling with the second noxious wave of the pandemic with daily rising new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals in several states are staggering under a load of oxygen requirement by patients along with a shortage of hospitals beds and many are sent home, and severe patients with low oxygen saturations have died due to lack of medical oxygen and beds.