Thandwe hospital faces oxygen shortage, with self-sufficiency seen as long-term solution

14 Jul 2021

DMG Newsroom
14 June 2021, Thandwe 

Thandwe District General Hospital in Arakan State is verging on a shortage of oxygen for emergency Covid-19 patients, according to a monk who is helping with virus-related affairs in Thandwe, as a push for donors to set up an oxygen generator for the hospital continues. 

Sayadaw U Tayzeinda said he was worried that the supply of medical oxygen could run out as soon as Wednesday evening, with only a handful of cylinders not yet used up. 

“We are refilling medical oxygen for 100 cylinders at Defence Industry (6) with the help of departmental officials. But it is delayed due to the time to queue to refill them. I am worried that the oxygen supply will not arrive in time. We cannot get it from other sources,” he told DMG. 

“I don’t know how to get through this day. I am also feeling shortness of breath when I think about the Covid-19 patients in the emergency ward,” he added. 

“The Thandwe District Hospital has run short of oxygen supply though other township hospitals have enough resources,” the Sayadaw said, amid reports that some have traveled as far as  Pathein in Ayeyarwady Region and Pyay in Bago Region to refill oxygen tanks. 

“We are also worried for the patients. But we are trying our best not to face a shortage of oxygen for the patients who are gasping for oxygen,” said Dr. Ye Win Tun, superintendent of Thandwe District Hospital. 

The problem, he added, is that there is currently no plant to produce oxygen in Thandwe Township, which efforts are underway to address: Land and building donors have been secured in preparation for the construction of an oxygen generator in Thandwe, but donors are still needed to purchase the equipment, according to officials tasked with constructing the plant. 

The estimated cost of an oxygen generator is about K150 million, and organisers of the effort have so far received around K60 million in donations for the purchase. 

“The land plot has already been donated by Shwe Nang Waddy Company. There is already a donor for the building. Some donors are still needed to buy the oxygen generator. We are working to set up the oxygen generator soon,” said Sayadaw U Tayzeinda, the monk helping to combat Covid-19 in Thandwe Township. 

Ko Thet Lwin Phyo, who is similarly involved in Covid-19 protection and prevention in Thandwe, said that although there were people who wanted to buy oxygen with the donations they have received, that approach was short-sighted. 

“The attitude of the people is that they prefer to buy weapons instead of building weapons factories,” he analogised. “This oxygen generator will be built for the long term. ... It will not be convenient to buy oxygen in the long run. I would like to say that once this oxygen generator is built, it will handle the oxygen demand in Thandwe Township.”  

Currently, six out of more than 60 Covid-19 patients at the Thandwe hospital are being given supplemental oxygen. 

During the ongoing third wave of Covid-19 (since May), a total of 996 infections and 17 deaths had been recorded in Arakan State as of July 13, with six of those fatalities reported in Thandwe Township.