Sanitisers scarce in Ho

Since the outbreak of the Ebola disease, pharmaceutical shops in the Ho Municipality have recorded a high patronage of hand sanitisers. This is because many people believe it is a measure that can help prevent an individual from contracting the disease.

Many shops which hitherto did not sell hand sanitisers have made orders for the commodity due to the high demand for hand antiseptic lotion. 

A visit by the Daily Graphic to some pharmaceutical and cosmetic shops in Ho, showed that there was indeed a shortage of hand sanitisersåå. 

Within two weeks, many shop owners said they had sold out their stocks and were awaiting new consignments. 

Scarcity

In the few shops that had hand sanitisers for sale, the owners said they had very few supplies left.

According to them, ever since Ebola became a topic of interest in the country, many people, majority of them immigration officers, soldiers, police officers and their families, have started using the product.  

“Others also do buy them, but they are mainly ladies,” Ms Edem Attigah, the Dispenser at the P.R.MEDS Pharmacy, disclosed.

The Manager of the Gabriel Kwaku Adom Chemical shop, Madam Louise Markham, said she had had hand sanitsers in stock since December last year because the market was slow. However, since the onset of the Ebola disease, she has sold all she had and has even placed an order for more supplies, which she was expecting to arrive by next week.

Same price

The Manager at Victorious Mount Zion Pharmacy, Mr Samuel Siatey Asare, expressed similar sentiments. He said before the outbreak, he could not sell 10 of the sanitisers in his shop in a week but now he sold more that 35 to 40 pieces day. 

Interestingly, in spite of the high demand for hand sanitisers, the price of the commodity has remained the same. 

Mr Asare said the price for his Cussons Carex sanitiser, the only type in his shop, still sold for GH¢4.50.

A lady who only gave her name as Jemima, who was at the Living Crown Pharmacy to buy a sanitiser, said although it was not a cure for Ebola, she wanted to protect herself as she could not avoid shaking the hands of her loved ones.