KATHMANDU, Sep 28: The Department of Drug Administration (DDA) has imposed a ban on nine brands of hand sanitizers on Monday after finding inadequate concentrations of methanol in them.

KATHMANDU, Sept 17: Selling of substandard hand sanitizers is on rise in the Kathmandu Valley amid soaring demands and weak government monitoring, posing a serious threat to people’s health.

As the threat of coronavirus pandemic is looming, some local governments have stepped up efforts to produce face masks and hand sanitizers of which the residents across Nepal have faced acute shortage already. It is months since these two vital items to protect oneself from possible infection stopped being available in the market. Apart from black marketing, scarcity of these items is the result of our dependence on countries like China and India wherefrom we import them. It seems things are slowly changing.