Online Reporter
Robin Muchetu, Health and Gender Editor
THE Lupane Provincial Oxygen Plant is now complete awaits electrification and commissioning before it starts supplying oxygen to the province and greater part of the country.
The development is set to save the Ministry of Health and Child Care thousands of dollars that has been going in the procurement of oxygen for its health institutions.
The plant is located at the Lupane Provincial Hospital site and is the second one in the country after the one at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital in Mashonaland West Province.
The Provincial Medical Director for Matabeleland North Province Dr Admire Kuretu said the construction of the provincial oxygen plant was supported by UNICEF working together with the Ministry of Health and Child Care he gave an update as to the work done so far.
“The plant is now complete and we are waiting for electrification that is the outstanding part. It is going to serve all seven districts of the province and other provinces will also benefit from the plant.
“It is a high output plant with an output of 400litres of per minute, as we speak, Unicef has pledged to put up a backup solar system so that when the grid is off there is no interruption,” said Dr Kuretu.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care has been buying oxygen to supply its institutions on this side of the country which has been costly and the Ministry also has no control over pricing from the supplier.
Once commissioned, the plant will reduce the distance that health institutions across the province travel to buy oxygen. Patients will also be guaranteed access to the critical commodity.
“We are excited about it because in Matabeleland North, there are districts that are very far from the city and are facing challenges in procuring the oxygen as they have to travel a long distance to access it among other constraints that the district was facing.
“The districts are a bit far from the big city and the roads are not in a good state, because of that our people were left behind. You find out that one would get to an institution and there is no oxygen, yet there is a patient in critical need of that oxygen which is a lifesaving commodity. You are forced to end up referring the patients far away that you otherwise would be able to manage at the local level,” said Dr Kuretu.
He added that the referrals become very costly to the population as they end up going to a central hospital very far away from homes in a place they are not familiar with. The relatives will also have to travel to visit the patient in the city.
The PMD added that the plant will be a game changer in the way that local institutions are run adding that the completion of the Lupane Provincial Hospital will see this project coming to life.
“The provincial hospital itself, we are hoping that the construction is expedited so that we do not have an oxygen plant without a hospital because it is a bit difficult to secure the equipment that is here when there is no other business going on here,” he pleaded.
“For the Ministry of Health and Child Care, we are going to cut on costs of fuel and cost of buying the oxygen itself, because previously we were buying and now we are going to produce for ourselves and supply other provinces and savings from the oxygen that we were previously buying can go and serve other areas”.
Dr Kuretu added that the money saved will be channelled to preventing illnesses and is a direct benefit to the whole province.
Mission hospitals around the plant will access the oxygen too, ensuring that their patients also benefit.
Special Advisor to the President on Monitoring Implementation of Government Programmes and Projects Dr Jorum
Gumbo visited the site of the plant and expressed his satisfaction last week.
“The complete operationalisation of the medical oxygen plant is an extraordinary milestone. Possessing the capacity to supply the entire province, this asset dramatically lowers healthcare costs while fortifying our clinical self-reliance,” he said.
Dr Gumbo said the oxygen plant is a unique and important innovation.
“It’s a plus for the Government, Matabeleland North Province and the Ministry of Health as a whole. This plant is the second one in Zimbabwe after Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital. So, it is critical that this one is completed,” he added.
The oxygen plant is sent to be commissioned this year as it is ready for use once a transformer is installed to power it.
