The National Council of Persons with Disabilities has bemoaned the inflation of the prices of hand sanitizers.
According to them, the poor and disabled are worse affected by the situation.
Prices of hand sanitizers have seen a drastic increase after the country recorded cases of the coronavirus on Thursday and additional ones thereafter.
Chairman of the Council, Yaw Debrah in a Citi News interview called on the government to intervene immediately before the unexpected happens to the vulnerable.
“Some of our friends who are even earning their livelihood under trees and car packs, how are they going to earn a living to the extent that they will even get extra income to buy sanitizers? It seems the government will have to work with organizations of persons living with disability to reach out to our members or persons with disability across the country and also appeal to corporate Ghana.”
Sanitizer and it’s associated issues
Some supermarkets and shops in Ghana have begun selling hand sanitizers at outrageous prices following the announcement of some confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country.
With education around coronavirus in the country gaining the attention, citizens are advised to follow good personal hygiene rules including washing of hands and the use of sanitizers as and when necessary. This is a risk reduction and preventive measure to contracting the pandemic disease.
In Ghana, some shops have increased the prices of hand sanitizers by an astronomical margin of almost a hundred percent to a thousand percent (100% – 1000%) and over.
For instance, hand sanitizers that were sold previously at about GH¢3.50 are now sold at GH¢15 or event GH¢20.
These increases are due to the excess demand from consumers for the product for which producers have outrageously increased the prices for more profit.
This has sparked various conversations with people sharing their sentiments on how the prices of the products have been increased and how they are unable to purchase them.
Traders have also said that the products are on high demand and wholesale prices form producers have been increased.
They claim they have no choice but to increase the prices to consumers.
How to protect yourself
To prevent the spread, the standard recommendations coming from the WHO is regular hand washing, covering one’s mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs.
People are also advised to avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.