A senior lecturer at the Department of Biotechnology of the Faculty for Agriculture at the University for Development (UDS) in Nyankpala has disclosed that about 54 percent of the locally produced alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not effective enough to fight the SARS-Cov-2 that causes the novel coronavirus disease.
Dr Courage Kosi Setsoafia said the mad rush for sanitizers in the country has caused some producers failing to meet the right proportion of alcohol ingredient required in the production of sanitizers.
He revealed this to THE CUSTODIAN in an interview in Tamale after donating hands-free hand washing devices to the Tamale Central hospital medical laboratory and UDS Central administration to promote handwashing.
Dr Setsoafia indicated that the research findings have proven that 54 percent of the sanitizers being used may not be effective against bacteria and other pathogenic organism like the SARS-Cov-2.
He stated that this gives users a false sense of security and stressed further that, “you will think you are using the sanitizer to kill the disease but that is not the case.”
The UDS Senior Lecturer urged the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to conduct post-market surveillance to track these ineffective sanitizers and prosecute those producing them.
The Microbiologist also used the opportunity to encourage the public to frequently practice effective hand washing and also wear the nose masks to prevent the infection of COVID-19.
The hands-free hand washing facility (SabaWash) donated to the two public institutions is the invention of the UDS senior lecturer.
He explained this is aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases such as fecal oral diseases.
