ADDIS ABABA– Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority (EFDA) disclose that it has exerting full potential on the ongoing activities of fighting the common enemy, COVID-19.
Pharmaceutical License and Registration Director at EFDA Abdela Qaso told The Ethiopian Herald that the Authority has full mandate to issue legal license, registration, and quality control for utilizing pharmaceutical purpose only. As part of this, it has consignments of two directions at entry and exit points to identify the quality of the equipment before domestic distribution.
Particularly, the Authority has given due attention for personal protective equipment like medical masks quality helps by laboratory. In this regard, industries are producing various masks from variety of materials in order to prevent their employees from disease. However, since the Authority has no responsibility of controlling those industries, it has given due attention to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Therefore, masks in pharmaceutical and industries are different from each other’s.
On the other hand, the Authority has
prepared Guiding Document which helps for the societies that how to obtain and utilize the masks from industries. This type of masks are not usable for prevention of pandemic, but for other diseases related to the working behavior in the working places.
According to Abdela, close to 11 textile factories, with a capacity to produce to produce masks are requested license until now to produce quality material so as to fighting COVID-19. If 11 factories start to produce with full potential, it can help neighboring countries as it is able to produce over 15,000 masks per hour. Likewise, Alcohol and hand sanitizer is other equipment which used for combating the pandemic.
‘’Due to Detergent factories has raw materials and simply they have, then it is better to produce Alcohols and hand sanitizer. Therefore, the Authority has also given due attention to such factories and supports through different issues. In this regard, over 100 factories has requested license in order to produce the materials.’’ He added.
Abdela advise that, keeping physical distance, washing hands, and mask usage is still better system on the ongoing action of combating the pandemic.
The Ethiopian Herald May 2/2020
BY MESERET BEHAILU
