Baghdad – The rise in the prices of liquid medical oxygen and the decrease in supply quantities have raised fears of a widening supply crisis in Iraqi health institutions, amid calls for urgent government intervention to address the shortage and ensure the availability of the substance for hospitals.
A number of oxygen suppliers told the News Video Agency that the price per liter has recently increased from about 575 dinars to between 750 and 900 dinars, against the backdrop of a decrease in the quantities available in the market.
Suppliers attributed the price increase to the reduction in local production, especially after one of the factories temporarily halted operations for maintenance work, which reflected on the volume of available supply.
They warned that the continued shutdown of the factory and the decline in production could lead to further price increases, adding to the financial burdens on the entities and institutions responsible for supplying hospitals.
Suppliers urged the Minister of Health and the relevant government bodies to intervene swiftly and work to address the causes of the shortage and secure alternative sources of liquid oxygen, in addition to ensuring the suspended factory returns to production as soon as possible.
They stressed that the provision of oxygen must not suffer any disruption, as vital medical departments rely on it continuously, and they are calling for a mechanism to ensure stable supply and prevent a crisis in case local production continues to decline.
Medical oxygen is considered a basic material in hospitals and is widely used to treat patients suffering from low oxygen levels in the blood, especially in emergencies, intensive care, and operating rooms, as well as being used in ventilators and through masks and nasal cannulas.
Quantities of liquid oxygen are stored in designated tanks before being converted into gas and pumped through the supply network to the various departments within health institutions.
Suppliers are concerned that continued disparity between production and demand could exacerbate the supply crisis and drive up prices, emphasizing that addressing the problem requires swift action before it negatively affects the stability of hospital supplies.