Position paper: French Republic

Country: France
Committee: World health organization
Topic: How can countries mitigate the international medical oxygen shortage?
The French Republic believes the medical oxygen shortage is a global crisis. Medical oxygen is a
key treatment for diseases ranging from pneumonia to asthma to COVID-19. But the COVID-19
pandemic has been a wake-up call, revealing decades of global inequities in access to oxygen. As
COVID-19 cases surged in many countries, devastating oxygen shortages lead to countless
preventable deaths. In addition, the WHO Director-General and WHO Regional Director for
Europe warn that there are dangerously low medical oxygen supplies in Ukraine due to the crisis.
Trucks are unable to transport oxygen supplies from plants to hospitals across the country, which
puts thousands of lives at risk. During the crisis in Ukraine, health must remain a priority pillar
of the humanitarian response, with health systems and facilities remaining protected, functional,
safe and accessible to all who need essential medical services, and health workers protected so
they can continue to save lives.
France has decided to put together a €100 million financial package to assist victims of the
Ukraine- Russia conflict. Four trucks carrying an initial shipment of 33 tons of emergency aid
arrived in Poland from France on Sunday (27th of February 2022) evening, and the shipment was
delivered to the Ukrainian authorities on the 28th of February 2022. A second shipment
composed of eight tons of emergency medical supplies departed France on the 1st of March 2022
aboard two Polish civil security aircraft and was delivered to the Ukrainian authorities. This
shipment includes a “mobile clinic” with medicines and hospital equipment intended to reinforce
emergency facilities; it is capable of treating up to 500 war-wounded. It also includes 36
containers of medication donated by Fondation Tulipe, which is a humanitarian distribution
pharmaceutical establishment authorized by the National Medicines Safety Agency. It federates
donations from health companies to respond, in an emergency, to the needs of populations in
distress, during acute health crises, natural disasters and conflicts.
Medical oxygen in India has been in severe shortage. Dozens of hospitals in several Indian cities
and towns have run short of the gas, sending relatives of patients scrambling for oxygen
cylinders. On the 2nd of May 2021, amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, India received several
essential medical supplies and equipment from France to help fight the second wave of the
coronavirus. According to sources, the medical supply from the French Republic includes eight
oxygen generators, 28 ventilators, 200 electric syringe pumps, 28 AFNOR/BS Flexible tubes,
500 anti-bacterial filters, 500 machine filters and 500 related patient circuits. The total weight of
these materials is more than 28 tonnes. These eight generators are Novair Premium RX 400
Hospital Level Oxygen Generators, with each unit capable of providing yearlong oxygen for 250
beds. These world-class generators would make 8 hospitals oxygen autonomous for over 10
years, informed sources. France and India have always remained united and the authorities are
doing all they can to help.
From a pragmatic perspective, there should be a mandate for an adequate supply of oxygen at all
licensed hospitals, public or private. This supply could come from installing, maintaining, and
Position paper: French Republic

operating their oxygen plants, strengthening liquid oxygen infrastructure when possible, and/or
providing for stand-by oxygen concentrators and cylinders. Large hospitals can produce oxygen
on-site, which is typically done by PSA plants, from which oxygen is then piped directly to
(oxygenated) beds. Indigenous technology for this purpose has been developed by the Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and made available at a low cost to domestic
manufacturers. Smaller hospitals, and community and primary health centres will rely on
portable oxygen concentrators and stand-by cylinders. The latter comes from a network of small
refilling stations located in every district. Additionally, each hospital should report every day its
demand for oxygen to a designated authority at the district level, shortfall over its own
production, and the remaining buffer stock. Oxygen planning tools can help in calculating the
projected demand. The French Republic looks forward to working with other nations to solve
this crisis.
Bibliography:

- Dangerously low medical oxygen supplies in Ukraine due to crisis, warn WHO
Director-General and WHO Regional Director for Europe
https://www.who.int/news/item/27-02-2022-dangerously-low-medical-oxygen-
supplies-in-ukraine-due-to-crisis-warn-who-director-general-and-who-regional-
director-for-europe
- Ukraine – France mobilizes to deliver emergency medical aid to victims of the
conflict (01 Mar. 2022) https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-
files/ukraine/news/article/ukraine-france-mobilizes-to-deliver-emergency-medical-
aid-to-victims-of-the
- How India Can Prevent the Next Oxygen Shortage Crisis
https://www.cgdev.org/blog/how-india-can-prevent-next-oxygen-shortage-crisis