Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) has demanded for uninterrupted oxygen supply in all rural hospitals especially District Hospital(DH), Sub District Hospital(SDH) and Primary Health Center (PHC).“The oxygen is an essential drug in emergencies and is life saving in many human ailments”, DAK president Suhail Naik was quoted saying.“Furthermore according to a recent study, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) / Asthma patients form the majority of indoor admissions at hospitals during winter season and continuous oxygen supply is the lifeline for them. Meanwhile during winter season, a huge number of COPD patients are referred from SDH and DH’s to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh(SMHS) hospital and Sher I Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS),the only reason being lack of proper oxygen supply at Rural hospital thus overloading these already overburdened tertiary care hospitals thus hitting quality health care there also”, he further added. “With progressive fall in temperature, frequency and severity of COPD/Bronchial asthma exacerbation are bound to increase, and oxygen is first and essential drug for their ailment. Hence lack of Oxygen supply in Rural hospitals is one of the main reason for increased mortality and morbidity in these patients suffering from respiratory ailment” Dr Naik said.He further stressed that if some Hospitals don’t have in built central oxygen supply system, an appropriate alternative arrangements for oxygen in the form of oxygen cylinders should be kept ready and which will thus decrease the referral to tertiary hospitals.DAK stresses upon Health Minister, Bali Bhagat to take cognizance of this serious issue and make all possible efforts to provide uninterrupted oxygen supply in Rural hospitals , so that suffering of the patients is lessened.