Da Dona
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 16, 2025
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Jinja Regional Referral Hospital is spending hundreds of thousands of shillings every week to transport medical oxygen from outside the region after its oxygen plant broke down about four months ago.
The breakdown has not only disrupted the hospital’s ability to produce its own oxygen but has also affected lower-level health facilities that previously depended on the plant for supplies.
The hospital’s oxygen plant can produce up to 250 cylinders a day, enough to serve Jinja Regional Referral Hospital and support health facilities across the region.
Instead, the hospital is now sourcing oxygen from Namanve and Kayunga.
For patients and health workers, the situation means an essential medical supply is now travelling from outside the region—at a significant cost.
The problem goes beyond Jinja Hospital
The prolonged breakdown has also left lower-level health facilities without a reliable local source of medical oxygen.
Facilities that previously obtained oxygen from Jinja now have to travel to Namanve and other areas to secure supplies, adding transport costs and logistical challenges.
Dr Yayi said the plant urgently needs to be restored so that it can resume supplying both the referral hospital and surrounding facilities.
The plant is serviced by Global Gases, but efforts to repair it have been slowed by the need to source spare parts from outside Uganda.
With the breakdown now entering its fourth month, the hospital is calling for urgent intervention to restore the plant and reduce the growing cost of moving oxygen into the region.
How long should patients and health facilities continue bearing the cost of a broken essential medical system?
