The Ministry of Health has directed the National Drug Authority (NDA) to investigate the sanitizers on the market and rid it of the fake ones as the country makes efforts to avert the spread of Coronavirus.
This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Diana Atwine while appearing before the Parliament Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Dr. Atwine told the House Committee that there are fears that a number of fake manufacturers might use this period when the sanitizers are on high demand to supply fake products.
She said the NDA has been instructed to take samples and ensure sanitizers that are on market meet the required standards and that they can protect users from the virus.
“In the face of Coronovirus, we are going to see a lot of counterfeit products on the market; we have already communicated to the National Drug Authority to sample all the sanitizers on the market to make sure that they check and confirm that the product is genuine,” Atwine said.
The Ministry PS noted that only sanitizers with 60 percent alcohol content must be allowed on the market.
On the other hand, Atwine has expressed fear that people that have been advised to be on self quarantine and are under monitoring are not adhering to the guidance given by the Ministry which puts the country at high risk.
As such, Atwine noted that the Ministry has now resorted to imposing institutional quarantine and they have already engaged a number of ambassadors to control on the flights of their employees though many are still flooding the country.
She says this has caused a challenge of accommodation of individuals who enter the country through Entebbe airport as many have to be quarantined first.
“We have many flights that are still coming into the country from all these countries that are affected and because of this inflow; we have decided to force institutional quarantines,” Atwine said.
Atwine added that when the people get to the airport and are told to be quarantined, they refuse and instead resort to returning to their countries.
“But even as they are booking tickets to get back, they must quarantine themselves in an hotel. Because of these numbers that we have been getting, it is now a challenge to get place or hotel where we can quarantine everyone that is coming into the country,” Atwine noted.
She said the Ministry will be soon recruiting temporary workers to help support staff that is overwhelmed with the corona virus scare.
Atwine observed that for the last two weeks, the staff of the Ministry at border points and airport have not been resting given the huge numbers of the people entering the country yet they have to be screened first.
