Resources

Since 2017, the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC) has worked to halt an outbreak of vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 (cVDPV2) in several of its South-Eastern provinces. Low immunity of children in Haut-Lomami, Tanganyika, and Lualaba provinces is indicative of low routine immunization coverage and the risk of the spread of polio to other areas. These three provinces represent some of the lowest immunization coverage rates in the country and the importance of strengthening these health systems.PATH and partners are working to contribute to the interruption of cVDPV2 transmission in DRC by improving the quality of the outbreak response and ensuring sustainable routine immunization financing and immunization systems are strengthened through policy advocacy activities. This newsletter is produced quarterly to highlight program work related to these objectives.

With the onset of COVID-19, advocates around the world are faced with the challenge of acclimating to a rapidly evolving public health landscape spurred by a pandemic. All hands are on deck to solve the pressing matters of the pandemic while also maintaining focus on closing the equity gaps in access to health services. Meanwhile, physical constraints pose limits to the tactics advocates can pursue. How must our traditional advocacy approaches shift to effectively advocate in today’s ‘new normal’?With the aim of catalyzing conversations and exchanging of best practices among health advocates, PATH is hosting a virtual learning series on advocating in this new normal. During the series, we are bringing together perspectives from across the African continent to reflect upon what is working and how we are evolving the practice of advocacy for health.

Oxygen consumed within a healthy facility is often supplied using a variety of sources, which makes consistent and centralized record keeping difficult. Different units of measurements and frequency of use across sources further complicates tracking of oxygen use. The Consumption Tracking Tool helps tracking of oxygen consumption at the health facility level to ensure that consistent data are used to monitor current oxygen usage, estimate future need, and determine if the current device mix in the facility is optimal.This Excel-based tool facilitates collection of monthly consumption data across five common oxygen delivery sources and simplifies calculation of total consumption even when different units of measurements are used across sources. The tool can be used by itself or in conjunction with provided Word-based paper forms.The tool includes the following resources:Consumption Tracking Tool (Excel-based tool)Data form: Oxygen consumption tracking (Word-based paper forms)Consumption Tracking Tool fact sheet - available in English and French (PDF document)This tool is part of the Oxygen Delivery Toolkit: Resources to plan and scale medical oxygen. The materials provided within the toolkit can be used together or separately, as needed. The complete toolkit is available at www.path.org/oxygen-delivery-toolkit.

The procurement process plays an important role in ensuring that a cost-effective and efficient selection and award process is conducted to obtain appropriate and sustainable technologies and supplies to support the health facility’s oxygen therapy needs. To achieve this objective, an integrated approach to procurement should be adopted—one that engages key stakeholders in the appropriate planning and procurement activities.The Procurement Guide has been developed as a resource to help effectively plan, procure, and sustain oxygen delivery devices for health care facilities. The guide covers the selection and procurement of the different components of an oxygen delivery system, including cylinders, oxygen concentrators, oxygen-generation plants, pulse oximeters, and the required accessories, such as oxygen blenders and flowmeters, consumables such as nasal cannula and oxygen tubing, and spare and replacement parts such as filters for oxygen concentrators and batteries for pulse oximeters. It incorporates references to relevant tools and resources developed as part of the Oxygen Delivery Toolkit, as well as other helpful guidance from international agencies and normative bodies.This resource is part of the Oxygen Delivery Toolkit: Resources to plan and scale medical oxygen. The materials provided within the toolkit can be used together or separately, as needed. The complete toolkit is available at www.path.org/oxygen-delivery-toolkit.

Access to consistent, reliable, and high-quality electricity is especially critical for health systems that rely on electromedical devices for patient diagnosis and treatment. There are countless examples of facilities across developing countries that cannot properly carry out their work without access to electricity or that have lost expensive electromedical devices, lab equipment, and critical oxygen equipment due to poor power quality.The Electricity Planning Guide is designed to inform country stakeholders on how to improve the way electromedical devices are deployed and used at health care facilities in low- and middle-income countries. The guide provides information on electricity availability, quality, and cost in selected countries, and includes recommendations for deployment of electromedical devices. Though the guide focuses on examples that are specific to medical oxygen delivery devices and pulse oximeters, the recommendations hold general applicability to other electromedical devices.This resource is part of the Oxygen Delivery Toolkit: Resources to plan and scale medical oxygen. The materials provided within the toolkit can be used together or separately, as needed. The complete toolkit is available at www.path.org/oxygen-delivery-toolkit.