Facemasks, gloves, gowns, goggles and sanitisers are all consumables which are mostly used by health workers in their day-to-day activities.
However, during the early days of the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19), these consumables, termed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), became very expensive and scarce.
This was due to the fact that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had prescribed these PPE, together with others, as effective tools to protect the health care workers or any other persons from contracting the pandemic, hence increasing demand for it.
In Ghana, some pharmacies and supermarkets increased the prices of these products, for instance, hand sanitisers went up by 200 percent, to make astronomical profit, and the other is probably to recompense themselves for the number of years such items have been on their shelves, because of its low usage and patronage.
Fortunately, some Ghanaian companies, notable Kasapreko Company Limited and GIHOC Distilleries, started manufacturing hand sanitisers at a cost that the ordinary Ghanaian could afford.
Some tertiary institutions such as the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Sunyani Technical University also ventured into the production of hand sanitisers.
On Sunday, May 31, during President Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s 10th address to the nation on measures taken against the spread of the Coronavirus in the country since its outbreak, he indicated that Ghana has lessened its dependence on foreign imports, and scaled up significantly in the domestic production and distribution of personal protective equipment to its healthcare workers.
The President said that currently, the country has been able to provide 4,440,690 gloves; 3,524,205 nose masks; 62,194 goggles; 109,829 litres of sanitisers; 85,995 head covers; 82,655 gowns; 53,517 medical scrubs, and 43,633 N-95 face masks.
We at The Chronicle are very happy about this revelation, because we see it as testament of the fact that Ghanaians can also produce such items on their own.
We are exceptionally happy that our local producers, who have been trumpeting their existence and the need for governmental support, have been able to prove their worth in these difficult times.
Though The Chronicle cannot confirm the fact that the government gave them the support it promised during one of the President’s addresses, where he announced a one-billion cedis stimulus package to households and businesses, particularly small and medium scale enterprises, under a Coronavirus Alleviation Programme.
To us at The Chronicle, we will be happy if the government has fulfilled this promise, but if it has not done that yet, then we would like to bring its attention to the efforts of local manufacturers and the need to give them the necessary resources and support that will go a long way to help the country reduce its reliance on foreign products.
We are calling on the government to intensify its support for our local manufacturing industries, and to pay more attention to Technical and Vocational Institutions in the country, since they are the backbone of our manufacturing industry.
The post Editorial: Covid-19: Ghana’s local manufacturers rise to the challenge appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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