Kathmandu: India on Thursday contributed a medical oxygen factory to Nepal as part of New Delhi’s new commitment to the Himalayan state in handling Pandemic Covid-19.
Indian Ambassador here Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed 960 liters per minute per minute (LPM) Oxygen factory to the Minister of Health Umesh Shrestha at a ceremony at the Ministry of Health and the population, as part of the Indian Robust partnership with Nepal in handling Coronavirus Pandemi, Embassy India here said in a statement.
The factory has been installed at the BP Koirala Health Sciences Institute (BPKIHS), and is designed to meet 5 LPM per person, total capacity of 960 LPM, he said.
Debel medical oxygen factory, developed by the Organization of Research and Defense Development (DRDO), brought the capacity to serve 200 patients simultaneously, he said.
Kwatra highlights the importance of rooted and multifaceted partnerships between India and Nepal, reaffirming that the prize symbolizes India’s continued commitment to Nepal in handling Covid-19 pandemics, according to a statement.
“The Indian government will continue to stand with Nepal and its people in fighting a pandemic and provide the best assistance as possible according to our rooted bilateral bond,” he said.
Shrestha said that the contribution of the oxygen plant was a critical health infrastructure that would strengthen Nepal’s efforts in handling Covid-19 pandemics.
Assistance by the Indian government two decades ago in building BPKIHS in Dharan is an important milestone, and the latest addition of oxygen mills is another milestone that will run far in serving Nepalese people, especially the province 1 and 2, the Minister said.
Oxygen is the main clinical gas for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, as experienced during the second wave of pandemic in India and Nepal.
With plants, hospitals now have options to produce medical oxygen in place, in a very cost-effective way.
India is only the fourth country in the world to develop technology that utilizes the adsorption technique of swing pressure and molecular filter technology to produce oxygen directly from the atmospheric air installation of medical oxygen factories will help in avoiding hospital dependence on a rare oxygen cylinder, according to the statement.
This will help reduce the logistics of the transport cylinder and also supply continuous and reliable oxygen available all the time, he added.