It is alarming to note that amid the growing demand for personal safety equipment, unscrupulous businessmen have flooded market with fake and substandard safety kits putting public health in jeopardy.
Market source said that unscrupulous businessmen are engaged in marketing uncertified personal protection equipment (PPE), hand sanitizer, oximeter, ventilator, face shield, and hand gloves across the country. It needs no emphasising that ineffective and fake Covid-19 safety kits undermine public health and our efforts to stem the pandemic. These illicit products heighten risk to exposure and create a false sense of security. Also fake and substandard safety equipment cause long-term damage to skin and different other organs.
Immediate steps should be taken to
contain flooding of fake Covid-19 safety
kits in the market.
A large number of people buy safety kits from the street vendors at a reasonable price. As there is no way to check the quality or efficiency of these products, street vendors are simply fooling customers selling substandard safety kits.
Considering the situation, government should take effective steps to contain flooding of such fake Covid-19 safety kits in the market and allow only those companies which are accredited by the government to supply the Covid related safety kits. The government must issue proper guidelines and set up a regulatory mechanism relating to the manufacture and supply of Covid-19 safety kits. Law enforcers must carry out drives against the unauthorised trading of low quality counterfeit Covid-19 safety kits.
There must be strict regulations and monitoring on the sale of protective gears and sanitizers. People who are manufacturing these fake products must be punished. The current situation underscores the urgent need for forming a strong policy framework to combat the illicit trade of fake and substandard Covid-19 safety kits. Also this framework must include stronger provisions for preventing the availability of illicit products online.