Consignment of High-flow Oxygen Therapy units (HFOT) to SL today (08)

COLOMBO (News 1st): A consignment of high-flow Oxygen therapy units that can supply medical Oxygen at high-speed to COVID-19 patients, will be brought to the country on Saturday (May 08), Sri Lanka's COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project said. The equipment manufactured in New Zealand will be purchased through India, Dr. Jayasundara Bandara, the Project Director of the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project told News 1st on Saturday (May 08). "Given the prevailing spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Ministry of Health has observed that a considerable number of active COVID-19 patients should be provided medical Oxygen at a high-speed as a result of damages caused to the lungs in the respiratory system. If these patients are given Oxygen at the normal speed as in the case of general wards, the supply is inadequate to fulfill the Oxygen requirement of the body," Dr. Jayasundara Bandara elaborated. According to Dr. Bandara, the Ministry of Health adopts two methods to provide a rapid flow of Oxygen for such patients; one method is to obtain high-flow Oxygen therapy units to provide medical Oxygen by using 'jumbo cylinders' at a majority of hospitals. "A request was submitted to obtain high-flow Oxygen therapy units. Thereby, Covid 19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project will import 110 high-flow Oxygen units through UNESCO. In addition to that, the Ministry of Health has taken measures to obtain 26 such units. As such, the 1st consignment of the 136 high-flow Oxygen therapy units is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka today (08)," Dr. Jayasundara Bandara told News 1st. The 136 high-flow Oxygen therapy units to be imported to the country are worth over Rs. 60 million.   [playlist ids="567417"]