Substandard sanitisers are readily available at Mbare
Musika Market, as unscrupulous dealers capitalise on the unavailability and
unaffordability of authentic ones.
Industry and Commerce Minister Sekai Nzenza revealed this
when she toured Mbare Fresh Produce Market in Harare yesterday and came face to
face with backyard sanitisers, which are being used at the entrance into the
market.
Their makers cannot have access to the major and critical
ingredient, either ethanol or isopropal alcohol, although the formal and
university producers in Zimbabwe now use the pure ethanol produced in large
quantities in the Lowveld, primarily to blend with petrol.
While bulk sanitisers are now being made, and are becoming
increasingly available to Government and corporate customers, the basic
effective sanitiser, which can be made cheaply, is not available to the general
public who have to either go without or spend a large sum on a product that
includes extra ingredients for skin care, rather than for killing viruses and
bacteria.
Zimbabwe has adopted the basic four-ingredient formula set
out by the World Health Organisation with 76,7 percent of the final solution to
be pure ethanol, an eighth of a percent being hydrogen peroxide and just under
1,5 percent being glycerol with pure water being used to bring the solution up
to 100 percent. The alcohol is the critical ingredient rapidly dissolving the
layer of fat molecules that coats the coronavirus and then destroying the
strand of RNA that is the virus.
The hydrogen peroxide kills any bacteria on applicators,
hands and contaminating the opened solution and the glycerol helps protect the
skin of the user. These two also have the side benefit of making the sanitiser
undrinkable.
Soap and water works just as well and health experts
recommend soap when sanitiser is not available. Even just using the jug and
basing method most Zimbabweans are familiar with when washing before meal, with
two sloshes of water, one to wash with soap and one to rinse, being the only
adaptation.
So far, there are 23 registered companies producing
sanitisers and following formulas that work with universities now also in
production.
When Minister Nzenza made the unannounced visit to Mbare
Musika yesterday, she witnessed laxity on screening and use of sub-standard
backyard sanitisers. Social distancing was also a huge challenge.
Some of the farmers pleaded with Minister Nzenza to look
into prices of sanitisers, which they described as unaffordable.
“The challenge we have is all people now suddenly say we
manufacture sanitisers yet they don’t have hydrogen peroxide and glycerine.
This is why we are insisting on standards and quality to protect the consumer,”
said Minister Nzenza.
“Our aim is to protect the consumer and make sure we have
the right composition for sanitisers. Already we have seen a challenge here.
The Consumer Protection taskforce is looking at accessibility not only to masks
but sanitisers as well. Our challenge is to go and increase the production of
sanitisers that are affordable and of quality and meeting SAZ standards.”
At OK Mbare, a 100ml of sanitiser was going for $97, a
price that Minister Nzenza said was too high for an ordinary person. The basic
sanitiser now bought in bulk by corporates is still unavailable in shops.
She said sanitiser producers assured Government that they
had the capacity to produce enough quantities for the whole country.
Minister Nzenza said the production sub-committee of the
Covid-19 Inter-Ministerial Taskforce was going to work on modalities that
guaranteed affordable sanitisers.
As part of ensuring that people had access to basic goods,
the minister checked the availability of subsidised maize meal at OK Mbare.
There was a long queue of people who wanted to buy the
subsidised maize meal but the management at the supermarket said they had taken
delivery of only 300 packs from National Foods. But they were expecting another
consignment from Silo maize meal.
Minister Nzenza said she was happy that the food supply
chain was now working. She was also told that farmers were transporting their
produce to Mbare Musika without any hassle.
Some banana farmers from Honde Valley said they spent at
least a week in Mbare selling their bananas. Herald
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