Oxygen Access For Life

This post was written by Mike Hess, MPH, RRT, RPFT.

As we approach the fourth observance of World Oxygen Day this October, we're also about 18 months out from the publication of the Lancet Global Health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security report.¹ That makes this an excellent time to look around the oxygen community and take stock of what has been accomplished and what remains to be done. Unfortunately, the latter list is still far longer than the former, but that doesn't mean there aren't a few things to celebrate.

First and foremost, we are continuing to grow a global oxygen network. To create the Lancet Commission report, a robust group of innovators, clinicians, and other stakeholders met regularly to identify the most critical issues facing the community. One of the biggest concerns many people had was sustainability. All too often, subject matter experts and key opinion leaders assemble to build a vision for the future, every gets excited about that vision, and then…the vision fades. Many of the challenges inherent in building out medical oxygen systems are so incredibly daunting it becomes all too easy to move on to other projects. Indeed, we have seen that exact scenario several times already, where initial efforts to deploy equipment and build infrastructure become hamstrung by not having enough resources or personnel.

To prevent that from happening with medical oxygen, we started the World Oxygen Collective in 2025. The Collective meets once a month to hear from the same kinds of innovators and doers that helped build the Lancet Commission report. In 2026 alone, we've heard about efforts to provide oxygen to hospitals across Haiti in the face of rampant gang violence, the development of new technologies to bring automation to oxygen titration (freeing up staff and conserving essential resources), and new paradigms for delivering supplemental oxygen more closely tailored to an individual's needs. Attendees are also able to report critical gaps in their systems so that other organizations can more smoothly coordinate efforts to assist. Come join the conversation on the first Wednesday of every month at 10 a.m. ET by registering online.

Here in the United States, we have also seen incremental progress in our oxygen efforts. The Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) Act continues to gain sponsors even in today's complex political climate. The current version of SOAR has more co-sponsors than any previous iteration, and feedback from our lobbying visits highlights that SOAR is becoming a very recognizable topic on Capitol Hill. You can help us improve our patients' access to the type of oxygen equipment that best fits their needs, as well as proper clinical training on that equipment, by visiting our Advocacy Action Center and contacting your Members of Congress today.

There is still much to be done across every aspect of medical oxygen. For example, much of our understanding of who benefits most from supplemental oxygen is based on aging studies across limited populations. Clinical practice guidelines vary widely from country to country, meaning even when equipment is available, it may not be utilized properly. The general public still holds various stereotypes and preconceptions about the supplemental oxygen community, and misinformation and confusion are often rampant in the community itself. But there is hope. This year's American Thoracic Society Respiratory Innovation Summit highlighted new several oxygen-related companies (some of whom joined the World Oxygen Collective). Dozens of posters at the recent European Respiratory Society Congress covered medical oxygen usage across disease states and using a variety of equipment types. This year on World Oxygen Day, we can celebrate that people the world over are joining the conversation and picking up the fight to ensure oxygen access for life!