Malawi is reducing the cost of providing medical oxygen by producing the life-saving gas locally, health authorities have said.

Director of the Presidential Initiative on Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood, Ethel Kapyepye, said local production has helped reduce the money government spends on procuring oxygen from outside the country.

Kapyepye was speaking at Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe on Friday during the commemoration of World Oxygen Day.

She said government previously spent significant amounts of money purchasing medical oxygen, a situation that also limited access to the service in public health facilities.

Kapyepye said the oxygen produced at Bwaila Hospital is now also being supplied to other health facilities, helping to expand access to the essential service.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the CSO Coalition on Access to Medical Oxygen in Malawi, George Jobe, has welcomed the development and called on government to allocate more resources towards medical oxygen.

PATH Country Representative and Medical Access Portfolio Leader, Raphael Kayambamkadzanja, said World Oxygen Day provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of innovations that can improve access to medical oxygen.

World Oxygen Day is commemorated on 2 October every year.

Tagamchira Meeklem Chiperesa – Staff Reporter, Blantyre