BOMDILA, 18 Sep: Chief Minister Pema Khandu dedicated four pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants to the service of the people through virtual mode from here in West Kameng district on Friday.
These oxygen generators, received as donation from the PM’s Care Fund, have been installed in Hayuliang (Anjaw), Raga (Kamle), Roing (Lower Dibang Valley) and at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) in Naharlagun.
“With these four plants, we today have 24 functional PSA oxygen generating plants across the state in various hospitals,” Khandu said.
He said that the health department is planning to make all the proposed PSA plants in the state functional by the end of October, taking the total number of oxygen plants to 44 in the state with a total generating capacity of 12,650 LPM.
“The importance of oxygen in our fight against Covid-19 became evident during the second wave of the pandemic. Fortunately, I was forewarned by the experts and therefore could manage to get 100 oxygen beds ready before the resurgence of the pandemic in our state. We today have more than 1,000 oxygen beds for the needy. We will ensure that no patient loses his or her life for lack of oxygen,” the chief minister said.
Assuring that the state is slowly emerging out of the grip of the pandemic’s second onslaught, Khandu expressed gratitude to the health workers and departmental
officials for toiling night and day without rest to save people.
“Unfortunately we lost more lives in the second wave (of the Covid-19 pandemic). But our health workers could manage to not let the death toll go out of hand. Because of them, the situation in our state had always been under control,” he said.
“Healthcare workers are the real heroes of our vaccination drive. Today we are vaccinating people in crores across the country. Half the battle will be won when at least half of our population will be completely vaccinated,” he said.
He, however, cautioned that the battle against Covid-19 was far from over. Stating that vaccination does not shield a person completely from the virus, he called upon the people to ‘learn to live with the virus’ and said that the only way to do so is by following the prescribed SoPs religiously.
“One good thing from the pandemic,” Khandu felt, “was the lesson learnt on the significance of a robust health scenario.”
“We have learnt our lesson. Today our focus is on improving health infrastructure across the state,” he said.
He said that all the district hospitals are being upgraded both with manpower and equipment. He urged the respective legislators and district administrations to fix a timeline and monitor the progress strictly.
Besides the district hospitals, one hospital each in all the 60 assembly constituencies will be upgraded with requisite infrastructure and equipment, the chief minister said.
“I have asked the legislators to identify one hospital each in their respective constituency in consultation with district officials for the same. Most probably upgrading work will start within this year,” he said.
Health Minister Alo Libang, legislators, deputy commissioners and DMOs of the concerned districts were present on the occasion. (CMO)