Despite full-scale hostilities, in 2023, Zaporizhstal produced and donated 767 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen free of charge to ten hospitals in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Zaporizhstal produces medical oxygen using ASU-60 (Air Separation Unit) in the oxygen compressor shop: here, atmospheric air is purified, compressed and separated into components. Zaporizhstal oxygen has been certified by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for use as a medical product since 2021. Since the start of shipment, the plant has delivered almost 6,500 tonnes of oxygen to more than 100 hospitals from 17 regions of Ukraine.
Amid the full-scale war in Ukraine, the volumes and geography of oxygen supplies decreased significantly, but did not stop. On average, at the request of medical institutions, the volume of shipment of medical oxygen from Zaporizhstal in 2023 amounted to 64 tonnes per month. The total amount of medical oxygen supplied to hospitals in 2023 was 767 tonnes.
The largest consumers of Zaporizhstal oxygen in 2023 were municipal hospitals, a clinical hospital of emergency and urgent medical care, and a children’s hospital in Zaporizhzhia.
It should be noted that medical oxygen is intended for oxygen therapy in conditions accompanied by oxygen deficiency: diseases of the respiratory tract, cardiovascular function, during surgical operations, etc. In particular, oxygen therapy is used to treat acute respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the SARSr-CoV coronavirus. During treatment, one tonne of oxygen covers the needs of about a hundred patients.