Help us make simple masks and sanitisers

On Sunday 15, 2020 afternoon, even before the two more Covid-19 cases were reported, all sanitisers were out of stock. People were roaming open spaces and supermarkets looking for sanitisers they knew little about.

You could hear shoppers asking the supermarket salespeople "Mmeweka wapi sanitiser" (where have you kept sanitisers). Most shoppers, not knowing what this product looks like hoped to get some, but unfortunately the answer was "sanitiser zimeisha" (sanitisers are out of stock).

Most Kenyans, I observed, were buying handwashing soap because the common mwananchi doesn't know what sanitiser is exactly. I heard one ask, 'hii ndio sanitiser’ (is this the sanitiser) and before anyone could answer, she was rolling her trolley away. Soaps and sanitisers have different 'user directions'; one should be washed thoroughly with running water and the other should not be washed away once rubbed on the palms. Any mistakes on their use could lead to serious consequences.

By the time I was writing this article, some online "quack doctors" were busy advising Kenyans on how to make homemade 'sanitisers' by mixing methylated spirit and glycerin.

By Sunday 9pm, when television and radio stations were reiterating President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive that all schools should be closed, social media sources opined that a sanitiser that used to go for Sh250 was now selling at Sh1,500 after business people defied the Head of State's directive that they should not take advantage of the situation to skyrocket prices for Covid-19 critical items.

Viable alternatives

Clearly, desperation is mounting and experts should come up with viable alternatives at this time when coronavirus is troubling our minds and souls—and we do not know when our bodies would get invaded.

Are there enough safety masks in every part of Kenya? Definitely no! The Government should bring experts on board to teach Kenyans ways of making improvised masks, and how to make them medically safe using available solutions at home.

Additionally, there is a need to devise home-made approaches to fit "Where There is No Doctors" manual. This is the hour all our medical experts should not only be active but innovative in advising Kenyans on alternative strategies of protecting themselves against the coronavirus.

If the Government and other stakeholders slumber, the common mwananchi will be tossed here and there by quacks and the outcome could be severe and fatal.

Innovative thinking

Another thing that the Government needs to take with seriousness is communication. Notably, even before the first, second and the third Covid-19 cases were reported in Kenya the Standard Digital had already ‘quarantined’ in their website an additional tab entitled ‘Coronavirus’— to inform and educate readers about Covid-19.

This kind of innovative thinking and creativity is needed in all institutions to give this pandemic the attention and seriousness it deserves.

Without appropriate and time information, Kenyans will fall for any information, however misleading, which they think can help them to survive. The difference between Covid-19 and common flu should also be demystified as soon as possible to curb panic among the public.

Given the voodoo narratives out there; from claims that this disease is for the whites to speculation that it is just ordinary ‘homa’, all cultural institutions from media (in all their forms and manifestations), education centres and government communication agencies must work together to streamline information and education to the public.

More importantly, stakeholders ought to identify the most vulnerable groups and persons so that both communities and individuals can be extra vigilant. Mapping populations which are at the highest risk and giving them education on how to handle the outbreak will be life-saving.

Creative and innovative Kenyans require equals to neutralise their curiosity. They find new uses and ways to relate situations. From editorial cartoons of coronavirus grounding the unstoppable BBI reggae wagon in the middle of a highway to jokes that for wholesome sanitation you have to drink sanitisers—you can be assured consumers of such information takes it seriously and shapes the way they relate and respond to Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Dr Ndonye is head of of Mass Communication Department, Kabarak University