Overview
Oxygen is an essential medicine that is used to treat critical and severe patients infected with COVID19. Securing oxygen supply and safely administering oxygen therapy requires a holistic and integrated system of technologies and products from the oxygen source (either produced locally at a health facility or delivered and stored) to the devices for flow regulation and conditioning and consumables for oxygen delivery to the patient. Additionally, pulse oximetry is used to detect and monitor oxygen saturation.
The COVID19 outbreak has placed unprecedented demand on medical products throughout the world. The market is experiencing aggressive buying by governments and hospitals to ensure quality care and the necessary products to treat COVID19 patients while still providing care for normal operations. In the absence of oxygen therapy, there will be an increase in mortality as COVID19 spreads.
One of the objectives of the WHO is to provide the technical guidance for proper design and use of medical products for oxygen therapy. The Pandemic Supply Chain Network (PSCN), a public private collaboration, is a market network led by the WHO to facilitate a functioning supply chain during a pandemic. The PSCN accomplishes this by providing market visibility, technical guidance, and country and global demand scenarios to governments, UN partners and private sector organizations. Additionally, the PSCN facilitates the connection and allocation of available supplies to demand. This market matchmaking is based on neutrality and independence to ensure that allocation of supplies goes to those countries at most risk and most need.
The objective of this survey is gain insight on three key areas; i) the capacity of the market to supply oxygen therapy equipment to support the COVID19 response efforts around the world, ii) the capacity of organizations to increase its manufacturing capacity, and iii) the risks the sector will face in manufacturing and distributing the necessary equipment to meet the world’s demand. The WHO appreciates the ongoing market disruptions due to COVID19. With greater visibility combined with the need to match global and country-based demand, the PSCN can facilitate the global supply chain to provide the necessary supplies to those at most risk.
The PSCN advises that one provide as much information as possible in the survey as one is comfortable with. To maintain confidentiality, the PSCN does several things. First, the PSCN sanitizes all information to ensure that no single company is sourced to a specific data point and the PSCN does not give the exact numbers or insight but gives broader ranges. Second, the PSCN sanitizes the individual surveys by aggregating all them together for a high-level, qualitative snapshot of the overall market. Third, if one decides to provide confidential information but does not want it to be used in a sanitized and aggregated way, the PSCN will respect such a request. However, the PSCN does disseminate these surveys to the PSCN; thus, if there is information that an organization deems too sensitive or proprietary, the PSCN leaves that decision at the discretion of the individual participant.
The items listed in the survey aligns with the Disease Commodity Packages COVID19 and clinical management guidelines of WHO. https://www.who.int/emergencies/what-we-do/prevention-readiness/disease-commodity-packages/en/
If you wish to engage with the PSCN, please send a request to Michael Griffin: griffinm@who.int
There are 16 questions in this survey.
