With the support of international cooperation, Partners in Health has established nine Centers for Temporary Oxygen Therapy in Peru, to ensure access to oxygen and relieve pressure on hospitals in moderate cases of COVID-19 and respiratory illnesses which require low-flow oxygen supply.
The struggle to breathe continues
Oxygen is the main weapon against COVID-19, a virus that attacks the respiratory system. This medicinal resource saved millions of lives across the globe over the past two years. However, it did not reach all Peruvians.
Faced with this situation, Partners in Health, in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UNITAID in association with the Ministry of Health, has set up nine Centers for Temporary Oxygen Therapy since 2020 in Metropolitan Lima, La Libertad, Arequipa, Ucayali and Cusco.
What is the purpose of Centers for Temporary Oxygen Therapy?
The centers for temporary hospitalization have been designed to provide comprehensive and timely treatment to those patients who present a clinical diagnosis of mild to moderate respiratory distress, with a saturation level of no less than 90%.
The centers are equipped with a modern infrastructure to permit 24-hour care: conditioned spaces (nursing station, physician’s office, triage, storage space, locker rooms, separated sanitary facilities); trained health professionals (doctors, nurses, psychologists); and medical supplies (medication, oxygen concentrators, hospital beds etc.). In addition, the centers offer mental health and physical therapy services, as well as rehabilitation.
What will happen to these Centers for Temporary Oxygen Therapy once COVID-19 is over?
This system for temporary hospital care will be used to provide oxygen therapy treatment and serve as a new tool to address other respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia and asthma.
“Oxygen should not be just for emergencies. We need it all the time. Pneumonia killed more than 920,136 children below the age of five in 2015. That represented 15% of all deaths of children below five across the world. Even before the pandemic, hospitals were overflowing with viral pneumonia cases, caused by RSV in children and by influenza in adults” said Dr Marco Tovar, Medical Director of Partners in Health.
Our legacy
Partners in Health will continue to strengthen the capacity of primary health care facilities to provide oxygen therapy, in order to ensure a comprehensive response to COVID-19 and to save the lives of thousands of people who still suffer from the consequences of the coronavirus and other respiratory Illnesses.