The World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies (WFPICCS) fully endorses the 2025 Lancet Global Health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security and its call to close the global oxygen access gap.
As highlighted during the recent plenary at WSPID 2025 in Bangkok, the Commission’s findings reveal an urgent truth: access to medical oxygen remains one of the most inequitable aspects of global health.
Seventy percent of patients in low and middle income countries who need oxygen still do not receive it. Even in major hospitals, access is inconsistent, especially for newborns and children, while most primary care facilities have none at all.
Medical oxygen is not optional; it is a fundamental, lifesaving therapy essential across all levels of care, for both children and adults, with a wide range of acute and chronic conditions.
WFPICCS stands with the Commission in urging governments, NGOs, global health initiatives, advocacy groups, academics, and professional societies to take coordinated action to implement the 52 recommendations of the report by 2030.
Jeffrey Burns MD MPH | President, World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies
Read the full report here: https://www.thelancet.com/commissions-do/medical-oxygen-security
