15 May Solar Powered Oxygen Could Fill Critical Gap in Underserved Areas
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Hawkes
Michael Hawkes MD PhD
Adjunct Professor
Assistant Professor
Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine
School of Public Health
University of Alberta
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
- Pneumonia is the leading cause of mortality in children globally.
- Oxygen is an essential therapy for children with hypoxemic pneumonia, but is not available in many resource-limited and rural areas.
- Our innovation, solar powered oxygen delivery, harnesses freely available sun and air to delivery oxygen to patients independent of grid electricity.
- We performed a randomized controlled trial of solar powered oxygen delivery, compared to standard oxygen delivery using compressed oxygen cylinders in children with hypoxemia hospitalized at two centres in Uganda.
- Solar powered oxygen was non-inferior to cylinder oxygen with respect to clinical outcomes, and offers advantages in terms of reliability, simplicity, and cost.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
- Providing reliable oxygen therapy is challenging in low-income settings like Uganda.
- Solar powered oxygen delivery is a solution that could fill a major gap in clinical care of children with hypoxemic pneumonia.
- Solar powered oxygen delivery works just as well as cylinder oxygen for treating hypoxemic children.
- Solar powered oxygen delivery is cost-effective.
- Solar powered oxygen delivery is convenient, reliable, and simple to use in a busy clinical setting.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: Future directions of this work include a planned country-wide scale-up of solar powered oxygen delivery across Uganda, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and global funding partners.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Response: Grand Challenges Canada and the Women and Children’s Research Institute (University of Alberta) funded this study.
Citation:
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Last Updated on May 15, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD