Afghanistan makes first-ever oxygen-producing device

KABUL (Pajhwok): For the first time ever, the Kabul University of Medical Sciences and Abu Ali Sina Medical Equipment Repair have successfully set up an oxygen-producing machine.

The device has the capacity to produce 15 litres of oxygen in a minute and the cost will be 50 percent lower than the market price.

The Ministry of Higher Education said the machine was made by a technical team of the Kabul University of Medical Sciences and Medical Equipment Repair in collaboration with the Community College of Technology and Medical Equipment Repair.

Deputy Minister of Science Prof. Abdul Tawab Balakarzai commended the creation of the device, saying it was what the people and the government expected of their academic institutions.

“In the current situation, in which the need for oxygen is felt across the country, this initiative is a symbol of patriotism and represents a sense of responsibility towards the nation,” he remarked.

The deputy minister said MoHE was working with the University of Medical Sciences to increase the production of these devices and expand their oxygen-producing capacity.

Prof. Pashtana Ahmadzai, head of the Community College of Technology, said: “The device purifies and produces 15 litres of oxygen in a minute. Most of its materials, except the zeolite which was purchased from Iran, were provided by the local market.”

She added the price of this device in the market was three times higher.

A statement from the ministry recalled at the peak of the first wave of the coronavirus, the Kabul University of Medical Sciences was able to create a ventilator, which played a vital role in providing health services to Covid patients.

The need for oxygen has increased during the third wave and even some provincial hospitals have faced a shortage of oxygen.

In Afghanistan, at least 105,000 individuals have been infected with the Covid-19 and 4,293 have died so far.

sa/mud

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