MARCH 14 ­— I read with many sharings on the social media and reports on newspapers on home-made, DIY hand sanitiser in response to Covid-19.

Malay Mail also reported an interesting piece on "Vodka maker warns buyers tipple won’t stave off virus” on March 9, 2020.

The insufficient stock in response to the surging demand for hand sanitisers due to the Covid-19 scare is very concerning and this should alert everyone especially the authorities on the impending public health hazard due to the mushrooming emergence of hand sanitisers manufacturers in the market with questionable standards.

I need not go into the details as many reports had already pointed out in great clarity but suffice to add that the sudden flooding of so many new hand sanitiser brands especially in the online market must be looked into urgently by our pharmaceutical regulatory agency.

What worries me is not the effectiveness of the hand sanitisers as the production processes are fairly simple and the raw material required; alcohol, is easily, readily and cheaply available in Malaysia.

What worries most of us in healthcare is the possibility of the usage of methanol or industry grade alcohol instead of the recommended isopropyl alcohol (99.8 per cent) or ethanol (96 per cent). As the cost of the raw materials increases following the skyrocketing global demand, it is only a matter of time before some irresponsible manufacturers succumb to the illegal alternatives, to meet the lucrative market.

Hand sanitisers with undeclared methanol have been found in the market from time to time. This unexpected presence of methanol would pose a serious threat to public health. Methanol is acutely toxic after inhalation, oral or skin exposures and must not be used in hand sanitisers. When methanol is absorbed through the skin, it can cause irritation or redness to the skin and chronic, repeated and continuous contact with methanol can cause many dermatological conditions.

​Urgent regulatory attention is necessary now and nationwide awareness among healthcare professionals will be important to facilitate the early detection, management and prevention of methanol poisoning incidents if we have the unfortunate methanol-contained hand sanitisers in the market.

We need to act now and strict regulatory measures must be put in place as soon as possible. Singapore HSA has been regulating hand sanitisers as topical antiseptic under Medicine Act (Chapter 176). Thailand FDA had recently in March 2019 moved the categorization of hand sanitisers from Cosmetics to Medical Devices in order to regulate the standards due to obvious reasons.

Perhaps we might consider doing the same.

*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.