Targets for universal access, national roadmaps, and more affordable and accessible care are vital to help fill the medical oxygen gap affecting more than half of the world’s population, according to a new global report.

The Lancet Global Health Commission report details for the first time how future investment in strengthening medical oxygen systems could have a huge impact by saving millions of lives and improving pandemic preparedness.

Almost 400 million children and adults require medical oxygen every year. More than five billion people, 60 per cent of the world’s population, don’t have access to safe and affordable medical oxygen services.