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The Global Oxygen Alliance (GO2AL) is pleased to celebrate World Oxygen Day on October 2nd by taking the opportunity to showcase some of our member organizations’ important work in 2025.
Efforts amongst members in harnessing expertise, resources and partnerships – locally and globally – will continue to contribute to closing oxygen access gaps in low- and middle-income countries. The following examples highlight some of the remarkable progress and achievements made this year.
The Lancet Global health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security
In February 2025, the Lancet Global Health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security released its Reducing global inequities in medical oxygen access report. This landmark report provided the first estimates of the global need for medical oxygen and gaps in service coverage by region. The Commission reported that 70% of patients who need oxygen for acute medical needs in low- and middle-income countries are not receiving it – an access gap that dwarfs the 25% treatment gap for HIV/AIDS and malaria. It called for an additional USD 34 billion over five years to close this wide gap to save lives now and prepare for the next pandemic. Representatives of GO2AL member, the Every Breath Counts Coalition, coordinated the work of the Commission and other GO2AL members served as key advisors. GO2AL members are actively involved in launching the Commission report to increase uptake of its recommendations across all regions.
CHAI in East Africa
CHAI has played a pivotal role in expanding medical oxygen access in Kenya and Tanzania through the East African Program on Oxygen Access (EAPOA). This initiative, supported by Unitaid, MedAccess and PATH, is Africa’s first regional manufacturing effort aimed at increasing the availability of medical oxygen. The expansion includes infrastructure investments such as bulk storage tanks, pipelines, and distribution networks to improve oxygen delivery to healthcare facilities, ensuring faster and more reliable access in both urban and remote areas. The program aims to triple regional oxygen production and reduce oxygen prices by over 25%, positively impacting the lives of nearly one million children suffering from acute illnesses featuring low blood oxygen levels in Kenya and Tanzania. To further expand the initiative across the continent, Unitaid and CHAI recently launched the EOI for the West and Central Africa region.
PATH in Kenya
To sustain investment and secure resources for operational costs and preventive maintenance of medical oxygen, the Kenyan Ministry of Health, in partnership with PATH and other partners, developed and launched the Kenya Medical Oxygen Roadmap (2025–2030), with accompanying national guidelines. These included guidelines on production, delivery, and management of medical oxygen in Kenya and technical specifications for medical oxygen, oxygen therapy devices, and equipment. By focusing on key areas such as sustainable financing, infrastructure development, skilled personnel, and robust monitoring and evaluation, the roadmap lays the foundation for a transformed oxygen ecosystem. “The roadmap provides a robust framework for monitoring and evaluating progress toward expected outcomes and enables stakeholders to align to Kenya’s vision for quality respiratory care,” says Dr. Tom Menge, Head, Directorate of Health Products and Technologies.
Build Health International in Rwanda
Build Health International, jointly with the Rwandan Ministry of Health and other partners, has been leveraging a biomedical training center to expand the reach across the region. In collaboration with UNOPS and building on support from the Global Fund’s Project BOXER, BHI hosted a training for the Ethiopian Ministry of Health in Rwanda that focused on equipping teams with the skills required to sustain medical oxygen systems and strong healthcare infrastructure. This training yielded additional trainings for the Ministry partners and opened knowledge sharing on best practices to ensure equitable access to oxygen. To date, BHI has trained nearly 2000 people from 355 individual health facilities in 25 countries with a focus on capacity building across the oxygen plant management chain including technicians, plant managers, biomedical engineers, hospital administrators, and MOH stakeholders.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Angola
In close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, UNDP is strengthening national oxygen capacity through the procurement and installation of 17 PSA oxygen plants (single-line production units) across 11 hospitals, funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and the World Bank. The project equips hospitals with oxygen piping networks, manifolds, filling stations, and essential oxygen delivery devices, including cylinders, flowmeters, humidifiers, and regulators, to ensure safe, sustainable, and reliable oxygen therapy.
These oxygen plants are enhancing oxygen access and service readiness in five provinces by reducing reliance on external suppliers, transitioning to sustainable on-site production, and securing a reliable supply for intensive care, maternal, neonatal, surgical, and other wards. By combining infrastructure investment, technical guidance, capacity building, and sustainability measures, the UNDP, the Government of Angola, the Global Fund, and the World Bank are reinforcing resilience, expanding equitable access to oxygen, and advancing GO2AL’s shared goal of increasing equitable access to medical oxygen.
The Global Fund oxygen investments in Guinea and Zambia
In Guinea and Zambia, Global Fund investments in critical oxygen infrastructure have significantly expanded oxygen supply since October 2024; improving access to life-saving care and enhancing capacities to respond to outbreaks and pandemics. In Guinea,the first of three-pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants financed by the Global Fund was opened at Kankan regional hospital in December 2024. At the inauguration ceremony, Guinea’s Minister of Health emphasized how the plant symbolizes commitment to “ensuring the self-reliance of our health system and responding effectively to the growing needs of our people.” Thanks to support from the Global Fund and UNICEF, five more oxygen plants have reached near-completion, highlighting Guinea’s transformation from zero oxygen capacity in 2021 to nationwide coverage. In May 2025, Zambia opened its fifth medical oxygen plant at Kasama General Hospital in the Northern Province, financed by the Global Fund and built with support from UNOPS. These are just two examples from over 60 countries where, since 2021, the Global Fund’s investments have achieved the biggest step change in the provision of medical oxygen in low- and middle-income countries that has ever occurred.
UNICEF in Liberia, Uganda… and beyond
World oxygen day marks a milestone for UNICEF, having commissioned our 101st oxygen plant. Across 31 countries, these plants will deliver oxygen to more than 360,000 children under five every year, reach other clients in need, and they will provide needed surge capacity in the event of a respiratory outbreak. That is, if they are maintained and properly operated and have stable power supply. UNICEF trained hundreds of technicians and engineers across the world, and is installing 21 solar systems and integrated oxygen in services for women and children. To increase access to oxygen in Primary Health Care, UNICEF launched new resilient concentrator models of which 3,200 were delivered to 23 countries. In Liberia and Uganda UNICEF is pioneering innovative business models and public-private partnerships that keep equipment running and oxygen flowing to patients. UNICEF partners with GO2AL members on the ground, and at the global level to raise the voice for continued investments in scaling oxygen access for every child. Here are some of our latest stories from countries around the world: Oxygen stories | UNICEF Office of Innovation
