The state government will be providing free oxygen tanks and oxygen concentrators to the less fortunate in Sabah through the newly launched O2 Program.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the program, in cooperation with the Sabah Energy Corporation (SEC) and Yayasan Kebajikan Sabah (YKS), was introduced to reduce the burden of patients in light of expensive costs for the medical devices.

“The current supply at hospitals is insufficient. Patients also have to go back and forth from the institutions, and many of them who are not registered with the Health Department cannot afford such utilities.

“From 2022 to January 2023, the State Health Department has recorded 74 patients in need of oxygen concentrators while 11 more are in need of oxygen tanks.

“Of the 74 recorded patients who require oxygen concentrators, 36 are in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan (15), Tawau (14), Keningau (7) and two in Beaufort. As for oxygen tanks, there are six patients in Kinabalu and five in Sandakan,” he said during the O2 Program launch at Menara Kinabalu, here, on Monday.

State Health Department director Datuk Dr Rose Nani said the utilities are planned to be given out in phases, starting with eight oxygen tanks and two oxygen concentrators.

She said this will involve patients in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau, Keningau and Beaufort, adding that they have plans to provide more patients with such utilities in the future.

Rose explained that most of the patients who require the utilities have heart and lung conditions, often experiencing breathing difficulties and oxygen deficiency. 

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by BORNEO POST ONLINE

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