Price of hand sanitizers drop following boost in local production

Prices of hand sanitizers have come down drastically in the Kumasi metropolis, following a boost in production by local companies and institutions.

Currently, almost all local alcoholic beverage distillery companies in Kumasi as well as institutions such as the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi Technical University and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), are producing hand sanitizers.

This mass production seems to have flooded the local market, forcing the prices of personal hygiene and protective medical disinfectant, down to the reach of the majority of the people.

A survey conducted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Business Desk in Kumasi to sample prices of hand sanitizers, barely forty (40) days after Ghana recorded its first two cases of coronavirus, saw a drastic reduction in prices of the product.

A medium-size standard hand sanitizer produced per the required standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), is now selling between GH¢10.00 - GH¢15.00, about half the price, when the product gained instant prominence, following the recording of the first COVID-19 case in the country.

The small sizes could also be purchased for GH¢7.00 or GH¢8.00.

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has, however, cautioned the public against the purchase and use of fake and unapproved hand sanitizers.

The GNA gathered that a standard hand sanitizer must have an ethanol content of about 65 percent, to be able to kill harmful bacteria.

Dr. Ernest Kwarko, a Technical Member of the Kumasi Metropolitan Emergency Health Committee, the body mandated to coordinate the campaign against COVID-19, told the GNA in an interview that, the use of hand sanitizers, face masks and other personal protective items should not be compromised at this critical time.

Ghana has over the last one month, recorded more than one thousand (1,000) confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths.

Dr. Kwarko advised the public to make the use of protective items and personal hygiene such as regular washing of hands under running water, a regular feature in their daily lives to help prevent infections.

They should also adhere to all health guidelines and protocols, such as social distancing instituted by the government for their safety.