A new path for oxygen access
Introducing The Target Service Profile - a practical tool to build resilient oxygen markets
Despite billions invested in oxygen plants and concentrators, too many health facilities in low- and middle-income countries still can’t deliver oxygen when and where patients need it. The problem is no longer how much oxygen we can produce - it’s how we procure and deliver it as a sustainable service.
Introducing the Target Services Profile (TSP): a practical, performance-based framework for:
defining what a high-quality oxygen service looks like.
sending a clear, credible demand signal to the market.
By shifting focus from commodities to outcomes, TSPs can help governments and partners shape resilient oxygen markets that deliver reliable care at the bedside.
The evidence is overwhelming. The Lancet Commission on Medical Oxygen Security has shown that access gaps persist despite huge investment in oxygen equipment. We see it every day in the equipment graveyards within hospitals. And through our work scaling service-based delivery models, the Oxygen CoLab has witnessed firsthand how fragmented procurement, a commodity-only mindset, and misaligned incentives keep patients from receiving the care they need.
That’s why we believe a new tool is urgently required. The TSP concept was developed from these on-the-ground learnings to serve a dual purpose:
to better guide public procurement so that facilities receive the full package of services they need, and
to send a clear signal to private providers and investors to shape a more responsive, health-focused market.
But a TSP is not something that can be designed by one organisation. It has to be a collective effort - grounded in government priorities, informed by clinical realities, and shaped by those market actors who will deliver.
At Oxygen CoLab, we’re ready to convene and lead this work. It's a natural next step to our work: supporting service-based delivery models, helping partners confront equipment graveyards, and building shared agendas that align governments, providers, and investors.
What makes the TSP concept resonate with us is that it requires exactly the kind of long-term, collaborative thinking that defines the CoLab approach. A Target Product Profile usually describes something already within reach of the private sector. A Target Services Profile is different: it points to a set of capabilities that don’t fully exist yet, and asks us to imagine the ideal and then work backwards to design the path together. That’s how we’ve seen real change happen, in oxygen and in other areas—and it’s why we’re optimistic that countries can do this, with the right support.
But this moment towers above capital or technical assistance. It will take imagination, the courage to see beyond fragmented procurement and equipment graveyards, and to build health systems designed for performance, resilience, and care at the bedside. The TSP offers a way to begin: by scaling what works, and what’s possible.
If this resonates and you have a perspective to contribute, we want to hear from you. Please contact jason.houdek@dt-global.com.