Hand Sanitizer Business Booming In Ghana

One of the WHO protocols against the spread and transmission of pathogens includes frequent washing of hands.
With growing anxiety over the spread of the Ebola virus across West Africa and into Ghana, ensuring that one always has clean hands has become an in increased priority among Ghanaians.
The adoption of the health protocol of frequently washing hands as a preventive measure against Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has helped to catalyze the growing patronage of alcohol and non-alcohol based hand sanitizers. The spike in the patronage of the hand rubs has been a great windfall for vendors of these sanitizers.
Fueled by an obsession to have sanitizers close by at all times, some Ghanaians have procured and continue to procure copious amount of hand sanitizers from street vendors and convenient stores. These individuals have placed hand sanitizers all over their homes, cars, offices and other perceived vantage locations and are often observed obsessively engaged in the ritual of rubbing their hands with the alcohol rubs.
Some people interviewed by a few Ghanaian radio stations report that they use the hand sanitizers prior to under taking every task and when they go from room to room in their homes and other public buildings
These actions seem obsessive, but for those who practice them, it provides some form of relief for their mental anguish.
Although washing of hands with water and soap has been documented to be more effective than using hand sanitizers, the hand sanitizers are deemed by several Ghanaians as being easily available and more convenient, as opposed to water and soap.
Though the abuse of alcohol rubs is not encouraged, hopefully it will help create a longer lasting culture of personal hygiene whose salutary benefits will be seen among a population that is currently at risk for two communicable diseases, Ebola and Cholera which are transmitted in part by poor hygiene practices