Fast-track countrywide distribution of face masks
What you need to know:
- The issue: Covid-19.
- Our view: We call upon government to enlist more firms, including smaller players who can meet the minimum standards, to increase production of masks.
This week, authorities in Kampala announced that city residents were going to receive two million masks, starting Friday, August 7.
This is a welcome move, given the rising number of Covid-19 cases. Uganda’s Covid-19 cases stand at 1,233 with 1,102 recoveries and five deaths. But despite the increasing number of cases, many Ugandans are becoming reluctant to wear these potentially life-saving equipment.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that face masks should be worn in places where social distancing is difficult. coronavirus is spread when droplets are sprayed into the air when infected people talk, cough or sneeze. Those droplets can then fall on surfaces.
WHO says there is also emerging evidence of airborne transmission of the virus, with tiny particles hanging in aerosol form in the air.
But despite government slowly easing restrictions and opening up the economy, the promise two months ago to distribute 33 million masks in only two weeks has not been kept. So far only 13.8 million masks have been distributed in 33 districts.
Dr Jimmy Opigo, the officer-in-charge of distribution of masks at the Ministry of Health, says the delay is due to limited production capacity of suppliers.
That only 17 companies are manufacturing face masks and, therefore, cannot meet the agreed supply of one million masks per day should not be an excuse two months later.
A walk around will reveal that majority of masks being used by the public are those being sold on the streets. Government should partner with these cottage industries to ensure the numbers of masks produced are boosted, as long as they meet the required standards.
We, therefore, call upon government to enlist more firms, including smaller players who can meet the minimum standards, to increase production of masks.
But the distribution of face masks without the willingness of the public to wear them correctly is an exercise in futility.
Every Ugandan has the responsibility to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.
Wear your face mask correctly at all times while in places where social distancing is not possible.
