Oxygen cylinders’ import needed

KARACHI: Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) President Ismail Suttar has advised the government to consider importing oxygen cylinders from China to meet the escalating demand in the country amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

He said Pakistan has capacity, but a shameful lot was doing business and reselling used cylinders at prices as high as 500 percent. “With confirmed cases reaching 160,000 patients, hospitals have started to report an acute shortage of oxygen cylinders.”

Similarly, oxygen concentrators and oximetry devices were in short supply, and profiteers had raised prices exorbitantly. As home-quarantined people look towards sourcing oxygen cylinders, the lack of availability and the high-cost barrier has complemented the worsening health system of the country.

“In this dire situation, EFP strongly urges the government to import oxygen cylinders to manage and contain the ever-increasing demand for oxygen in both the hospitals and the households,” he urged.