Five Years of BOXER

BHI reflects on the advancement and impact with the Global Fund Project BOXER

A Note from Our Team

This month, Build Health International concluded its five-year program with the Global Fund Project BOXER, an initiative that began as a response to COVID-19. Through technical capacity building, the program eventually increased access to medical oxygen, saving millions of patient lives.

This program was one of several projects with the Global Fund including support to Project SWIFT, which provided healthcare warehouse infrastructure support across 13 countries.

BHI Director of Engineering, Eric Buckley, speaks about the progress and BOXER’s legacy in the video below.

Impact Numbers

2,667

Total people trained

39

Countries that received training

160+

Educational resource documents published across English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian

Lessons Learned from Training

Director of Oxygen Education and Training (and world traveler) Andrew Johnston reflects on the memories and lessons learned from nearly five years of capacity building throughout the globe.

EXPLORE THE STUDIES

Top 5 BOXER Moments

Cabo Verde

BHI has been providing technical assistance to Cabo Verde since the outset of their C19RM project, starting with visits in August 2022 to the two hospitals planning to install oxygen plants. BHI’s technical team assessed the hospitals (one in Praia, on the island of Santiago and one in Mindelo, on the island of Sao Vicente) to estimate oxygen demand at the hospitals, locate possible sites for the oxygen plant installations, and develop an understanding of the existing medical oxygen infrastructure. BHI proposed specifications to the Principal Recipient, CCS-SIDA, and their partners at the Ministry of Health (MOH), for consideration.

Cambodia
BHI met with the MOH starting in 2022 to assist in developing oxygen plant specifications that matched the needs of the three hospitals receiving plants through C19RM. BHI supported the MOH during the procurement process and plant house construction process by providing an additional technical check during key steps, to confirm that the works aligned with the MOH’s goals. The BHI team also provided recommendations for electrical infrastructure to protect the oxygen plant investments.

Guinea
BHI received the request to provide technical support to the Ministry of Health in Guinea in March of 2022. The BHI team provided remote support for medical oxygen plant specification development until receiving the request to visit prospective hospitals in July 2022. BHI mobilized two teams to assess a total of nine hospitals throughout Guinea. The BHI team produced reports for all sites, including plant specification recommendations, plant site recommendations, and recommendations for new oxygen infrastructure and oxygen infrastructure upgrades.

Kenya
The Principal Recipient procuring oxygen plants in Kenya, Amref, sought to increase access to oxygen by installing 22 new oxygen plants throughout Kenya. The scale of the project and complexity of procuring plants from three unique suppliers prompted Amref to seek technical assistance from BHI related to project management. BHI provided the Amref team with project management tools and support to better track the various procurement and site works activities.

Kyrgyzstan
BHI’s support to Kyrgyzstan has been driven by an accelerated timeline and close, effective collaboration. The BHI team received a request to travel to Kyrgyzstan in January 2024 in order to help expedite the development of technical specifications for an oxygen plant in the city of Nookat. Following the site assessment visit, BHI produced a number of deliverables needed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) team to quickly move forward with the oxygen plant project.

Papua New Guinea
BHI’s support to World Vision in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been largely related to technical challenges after the two medical oxygen plant installations were completed. BHI’s engagement with World Vision began in 2022, when BHI was asked to provide a rapid review of the plant house designs for PNG. BHI supported PNG at pivotal moments during the site preparation process.

Beyond On-Site Training

From technical troubleshooting to the basics of equipment procurement, these educational resources, created in collaboration between BHI and the Global Fund Project BOXER, cover key aspects of oxygen system maintenance.

OXYGEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

“[BHI’s] technical assistance is responsive, cost effective, and catalytic, exemplifying the shift from emergency response to system resilience by strengthening local capacity to design, install, operate, and maintain equipment and infrastructure. This ensures that every oxygen investment will deliver its intended promise—to provide safe, reliable medical oxygen whenever and wherever patients need it.”

—Nicholas Furtado
Senior Medical Adviser Oxygen and Respiratory Care
The Global Fund