Abdul Sattar

MARDAN: As soon as the health experts declared the use of sanitizer very important to minimise the threat of the spread of coronavirus, its availability became difficult in the market due to increased demand and its price also increased manifold.

A normal sanitizer which was generally available for Rs200 in the market is nowadays available for Rs800 or even more which beyond the reach of the poor people who are already facing difficulties amid the coronavirus emergency. In such a situation, many people tried to prepare sanitizer at their home and some of them also shared formulas on the social media.

Dr Hazir Rehman, Chairman of Microbiology Department of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, also felt the responsibility to introduce a good sanitizer to save the people of Mardan from the disease. Dr Hazir Rehman said his sanitizer is not like other sanitizers prepared at home and it is formed according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines at the laboratory of the university. He told TNN that under the WHO guidelines, glycerol, hydrogen peroxide, and ethanol are mixed in a specific proportion to prepare sanitizer.

Dr Hazir Rehman said his sanitizer is better than many sanitizers available at exorbitant rates in market. He said it is crucial to maintain the proper proportion of ethanol in sanitizer because it is the substance which breaks the coronavirus spread. He said he decided to make sanitizer as soon as the commodity went dearer in the market due to increased demand.

“All kinds of chemicals were available with us in the university laboratory. I with the help of other colleagues prepared the sanitizer in the laboratory and distributed it among the health and security officials performing duty at quarantine centre in Mardan” he told TNN.

Hazir Rehman said ethanol is the most expensive element in sanitizer. He said he can prepare sanitizer for the whole city if ethanol is provided to him by the government. He said most of the locally-made sanitizers may not be much effective for protection against coronavirus are these are not made under the WHO standards. However, he said, he can guarantee the people about his sanitizer that it is prepared after thorough research under the WHO standards and it will save people from the virus.