By: DARKO EMMANUEL
Indo-Ghana Industries has begun supplying locally produced liquid medical oxygen to hospitals, marking a major shift in how medical oxygen is stored and distributed in Ghana.
The first locally produced liquid medical oxygen was delivered to Lekma Hospital, where a cryogenic storage system has been installed to receive, store and distribute oxygen through the hospital’s network.
The new system is designed to reduce some of the challenges associated with traditional cylinder-based distribution, including transportation delays, high logistics costs and interruptions in supply.
According to Indo-Ghana’s Managing Director, Varun Tyagi, a single liquid-oxygen storage tank can hold the equivalent of about 1,000 cylinders of gaseous oxygen.
At Lekma Hospital, the first delivery is expected to provide enough oxygen for approximately three months.
The company currently produces about 10 tonnes of liquid oxygen per day at its facility in the Apollonia Industrial Enclave and says it plans to expand production capacity.
The initiative has also supported investment in hospital infrastructure. According to the company, development partners, including USAID, CHAI and JHPIEGO, have supported the installation of liquid oxygen storage tanks at about 10 hospitals, while other programmes have extended similar support to five additional facilities.
Hospital officials say the new system is already improving reliability at Lekma by reducing the need for frequent emergency cylinder deliveries and providing a more consistent oxygen supply through the facility’s pipeline network.
Indo-Ghana says its next step is to establish a hub-and-spoke distribution system, allowing liquid oxygen to be produced centrally and distributed through regional facilities to hospitals across Ghana.
However, the company says high electricity costs, delayed payments from some hospitals and limited access to long-term financing remain challenges for sustainable medical oxygen production.
Source: Ministry of Health
