Document resource
Despite sustained efforts to improve health in low-resource countries, huge inequalities remain in terms of health outcomes and access to healthcare.1–3 A recent point prevalence study of adult in-patients in 180 hospitals across 22 African countries revealed that 1 in 8 met criteria for critical illness, with approximately half of these suffering from respiratory failure.4 Although oxygen has been on WHO’s essential medicines list for over 20 years, approximately half of those with respiratory failure were not receiving oxygen therapy.5 Adequately addressing such a huge burden is an immense challenge, especially as critically ill patients in low-resource settings are commonly treated in non-intensive care unit settings.4