Sustainable Medical Oxygen for Hospitals and Treatment Centers in Developing Countries

Street Sights

Street Sights is a monthly newspaper that addresses homelessness issues in Rhode Island. Street Sights is affiliated with the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless and serves as a forum for homeless and formally homeless individuals, advocates, students, and state officials, to share accurate and honest information about homelessness issues. One section of the paper is dedicated to creative writing by homeless individuals. It turns out that this section of the paper is the most popular in the community. My role has been to help develop a book and a calendar that features creative writing and artwork of Homeless individuals that will be sold to raise money. We are creating the calendar first and want to have them available before the holiday season. The team is primarily homeless individuals. It is really exiting to have an opportunity to work directly with these individuals to help them create something they are very passionate about. I found that creative writing is an extremely popular outlet in the homeless community. Many individuals write a lot of poetry and enjoy reading work from others. There is no better way to learn about the struggles of being homeless than to read thier thoughts and experiences.

Mission Statement

To develop a concept of a product and or a service that can supply medical oxygen to rural hospitals in developing countries. In order for the supply of oxygen to be sustainable, it is crucial that medical oxygen is generated on site and not shipped in tanks from outside sources.

Problem Statement

Pneumonia: Leading Cause of Child Mortality in Niger
In many developing countries the rate of child mortality is very high. In Niger, 1 out of every 4 children born will not live to see their 6th birthday. The leading cause of these deaths for children under the age of 5 is pneumonia. In more developed countries pneumonia is rarely fatal, but in Niger, limited access to hospitals, a lack of trained medical staff, and under equipped facilities enable pneumonia to cause 25% of child fatalities.

Access to Medical Oxygen Will Save Lives
Pneumonia becomes fatal when a patient has extremely low levels of oxygen in their blood; this is called hypoxaemia. Hypoxaemia can only be treated by supplying the patient with concentrated oxygen. One of major problems in Nigerian hospitals and treatment centers is limited access to medical oxygen. This is the reason Pneumonia is so fatal in developing countries.