The second wave of the Covid19 pandemic has seen a massive rise in the demand for supplemental oxygen. At the end of April 2021, almost 22 states in India flagged more demand and in 10 days the demand rose almost by 50% compared to the earlier projected need.

As per the data with the National Clinical Registry for Covid 19, shortness of breath is the most common clinical feature among the patients. Almost 55% of hospital admissions during the second wave required supplementary oxygen. A sudden rise in the infection across the country lead to the sudden rise in oxygen demand.

As per the experts, India may experience the third wave in the near future and a possible surge in oxygen.

Sewa International has started an initiative called 'Oxygenation Drive' to deal with this situation in the long run.

The challenge was not the production of oxygen but its storage and transport from the production site to cities and villages across India. The intermediate solution to this is building local oxygen generation plants.

Sewa International will build 100 oxygen generation plants in India and plan to make 15 operational in three months. The first 15 plants will be a mix of 250 LPM and 500 LPM capacity, and each can support about 20 to 40 ICU BEDS. Sewa International is working with forty to fifty hospitals across India to establish these plants. It has also ordered 20-ton Zeolites (molecular sieves that absorb nitrogen and produce oxygen as a product) from Honeywell to establish up to 30 plants immediately.

Sewa International has established a technical team of experts and project managers to assist hospitals in seeking permits, setting up electrical systems, pipelines, and constructing industrial workshops, training etc. to install and operate oxygen plants quickly and efficiently.