South Sudan’s First Oxygen Plant Becomes Operational

JUBA – South Sudan has begun producing oxygen following the successful installation of the country’s first oxygen plant at Juba Teaching Hospital, set up with funding from the African Development Fund.

With a generation capacity of 2,500 litres per day and the ability to refill around 72 D-type oxygen cylinders daily, the plant will be a centralized production and supply hub for remote locations.

The equipment included 240 cylinders and four years of service and accessories. The $980 000 oxygen plant project cost includes the procurement and construction of a facility to house the plant and was funded by a grant found from the African Development Bank Group or AfDB’s concessional lending arm.

South Sudan’s Health Minister, Elizabeth Achuei, said the installation of the plant was good news to the nation and would bolster the country’s preparedness for oxygen in anticipation of the third wave of Covid-19.

“South Sudan will no longer be importing oxygen from neighboring countries and this means oxygen will be supplied to facilities on time and more lives will be saved,” Achuei added.

AfDB’s Country Manager for South Sudan, Benedict Kanu, said providing the oxygen plant formed part of efforts to build a robust and well-functioning health system in South Sudan to respond to health emergencies including the Covid-19 pandemic.

On 31 August 2021, South Sudan had 11,446 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 120 deaths, according to its Ministry of Health.