The Oxygen Crisis in Low-Resource Settings: Why EECC is the Solution
A new study published in The Lancet Global Health (2025; 13: e646–55) highlights a critical issue: many healthcare facilities in low- and middle-income countries lack reliable access to medical oxygen. This inequity has severe consequences, as oxygen is essential for treating patients with conditions like pneumonia and respiratory failure.
The Lancet Global Health April 2025
What the Study Found
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey of 2,884 healthcare facilities across 39 low- and middle-income countries. Their findings were concerning:
Only 24.5% of primary-level, 52.4% of secondary-level, and 66.8% of tertiary-level facilities had reliable oxygen availability.
Many facilities lacked essential system components, such as oxygen cylinders, piping, nasal cannulae, and pulse oximeters.
There were significant regional disparities, with some subregions having nearly full access while others struggled with major shortages.
These findings confirm what many frontline clinicians already know—oxygen supply is unreliable, leading to preventable deaths. You can read the full study here.
The Role of Essential Emergency and Critical Care (EECC)
Patients who need oxygen are critically ill. Critically ill patients often require oxygen and also other fundamental treatments to save their lives - such as intravenous fluids or care for a low level of consciousness. Essential Emergency and Critical Care (EECC) is the practical, cost-effective solution to ensure critically ill patients receive all the necessary treatments, realising the benefits of oxygen therapy and improving outcomes , even in facilities with limited resources. EECC has a large evidence base and focuses on simple but life-saving interventions, including:
Monitoring vital signs
Providing oxygen therapy
Administering intravenous fluids
Basic airway management
Training healthcare workers to recognize and respond to critical illness promptly.
By ensuring that every healthcare facility provides EECC to all patients who need it, we can significantly improve survival rates without requiring expensive ICU-level care.
Oxygen Supply in a Low Resource setting
The Way Forward
The lack of reliable oxygen access is not just a technical problem—it’s a global health equity issue. As one of the founders of EECC Global puts it:
“No patient should die because they couldn’t get something as basic as oxygen. By investing in Essential Emergency and Critical Care, we can bridge that gap and save countless lives”
To make this vision a reality, we must prioritize funding, training, and improvements to care to ensure every health facility provides the essentials of emergency and critical care.
Let’s make sure no one is left without the oxygen—and care—they need to survive.