On March 11, 2021, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) held a virtual event moderated by President Bill Clinton, founder of the Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States, to discuss the urgent need to expand global access to medical oxygen.
The conversation, held with a panel of respected international health experts, discussed the importance of oxygen in saving lives, how the COVID-19 pandemic is widening gaps in access, and steps that can be taken to ensure oxygen is sustainably available in low- and middle-income countries. Panelists included Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and Ms. Joy Phumaphi, former Botswana Minister of Health and co-Chair of the United Nations Secretary General’s Independent Accountability Panel for Women, Children, and Adolescent Health.
CHAI and MCRI are united in the belief that every patient who needs oxygen should receive it, no matter where they are born. MCRI is a global leader in child health and their work in Papua New Guinea, Laos, and Nigeria has proven to the world that investing in oxygen saves lives. CHAI is a global leader in securing access to essential medicines. We have used our expertise in policy, market shaping, and close government partnership to dramatically expand access to medications to HIV, malaria, and now oxygen.
Together, MCRI andCHAI, in partnership with governments and other global health partners, are seeking to relegate deaths due to lack of oxygen to history. We are finalists in the MacArthur Foundation’s “100 and Change” competition for our work on expanding sustainable access to medical oxygen in Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda.
A transcript of the conversation is available here.
