Where are the hand sanitisers? This is the poser currently making the rounds. Barely three months after the country was declared Ebola free by the World Health Organisation, WHO, alcohol-based hand sanitisers that held sway at the peak of the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, outbreak, have practically disappeared from the nation’s health scene.
The use of sanitisers is no longer being embraced despite the fact that water is not running in many public rest rooms.
Microbial infection
In addition to this development, a sharp reduction is being recorded in the practice of regular washing of hands with soap and water to reduce transmission of microbial infection.
In the heat of what has been described as the world’s deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, the scramble for hand sanitisers hit an all-time high within the Nigerian populace late July 2014.
Right from the announcement of the death of the index case, American-Liberian Patrick Sawyer, the paranoa about Ebola led to a phenomenal demand for hand sanitiser lotions, creams and gels.
As if their lives depended in it, men and women, young and old, the rich and the poor, scampered around Lagos and other cities of the Federation in search of the life-saving sanitisers.
Everywhere one looked there was a deluge of hand sanitisers and it is on record that hand sanitiser sales jumped through the roof.
Many shops particularly in Lagos and environs of the epicentres of the outbreak that stcked and sold different brands and sizes of alcohol-based sanitisers and antiseptic lotions were smiling to the banks.
For instance, in Lagos and environs, between August and October 2014, the price of a pocket-sized hand sanitisers, antiseptic and germicidal lotions went up astronomically and was being purchased at N2,500.00 at a point.
Before Nigeria’s declaration as Ebola-free, the display of fully stocked hand sanitisers dispensers was a common feature at most public offices, buildings and facilities.
Prior to this, the use of hand sanitisers in the country had been restricted to medical personnel as an alternative to proper hand washing, in the absence of soap and running water.
Findings by Good Health Weekly reveal that dozens of hand sanitiser dispensers installed in many public and private buildings are now empty and have been dormant for weeks.
In Lagos, airline passengers arriving or departing the local and international airports, are no longer mandated to sanitise their hands.
At the international wing of the Muritala Mohammed Airport, use of hand sanitisers by in-bound or out-bound passengers is no longer in practice. The situation is the same at the MM1 and MM2 wings of the local airport.
Dispensers installed in the restrooms af the arrival and departure halls and at other strategic points of all the airports have either been dismantled or are defunct.
Good Health Weekly also discovered that use of the hand sanitiser is no longer mandatory requirement to gain entry into most public buildings and and offices in Lagos unlike during the EVD outbreak when a security official was detailed to ensure compliance.
Mandatory use of hand sanitisers
Callers at banks, fast food joints, schools, restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, among others, are no longer subjected to the mandatory use of hand sanitisers provided at the entrances.
Even in situations sanitisers are still provided, people often decline to use it on the excuse that it was no longer necessary. Someone actually described it as “an unneccessary distraction because Ebola is gone from Nigeria.”
A security man at a new generation bank branch recounted that visitors to the premises have bluntly refuse to use the hand sanitisers installed at the entrance.
“They just don’t agree to use it again, unlike before. Some people even abuse me and threaten to deal with me whenever I insist that they must use it. So the management has decided that we should stop enforcing the use and make it optional.”
A random survey of shops and retail markets in Lagos Island revealed many have long stopped business, but at those still in business, several bottles of different brands of hand sanitisers seen on display, but nobody appeared to be buying.
In a shop on Lagos Island, a dealer explained that business had dropped sharply when compared to the situation a couple of months back. “People no longer buy hand sanitisers. In fact business is very bad. A pocket bottle can be bought now for N100-N200 depending on the size and alcohol content.
“Many of us had placed large orders for this hand sanitiser, only for Nigeria to defeat Ebola and the market suddenly dropped. We still sell, but not like before, now only the medical personnel who need it for their profession come to purchase,” he lamented.
But experts argue that even though Ebola is gone from Nigeria, it shouldn’t warrant the lack of regard for good personal hygiene.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, recommends washing hands with soap and water as the best way to reduce the number of microbes on the hands in most situations.
The CDC notes that if soap and water are not available, an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that contains 60-70 percent alcohol is a good substitute. Hand sanitiser reputedly kills the Ebola virus as awell as other viruses and bacteria.
source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/defeating-ebola-nigerians-shun-hand-sanitisers/
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