NDL struggling to supply sanitizer to market due to lockdown

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Drugs Limited (NDL) is struggling to supply the hand sanitizer it has been producing to the market due to the lockdown.

NDL officiating general manager Bijayashree Ratna Bajracharya informed that as many as 60,000 bottles of sanitizer they produced have remained in the storehouse as it could not be transported and supplied due to the lockdown.

The government body has been able to supply the product to the market in the Kathmandu Valley only despite the high demand for sanitizer in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bajracharya said they have been getting orders for sanitizer from other districts as well but they are in a state of confusion to meet the demand.

“We have been getting demands, however, the problem is we have not been able to supply,” he said adding that they are holding discussions with the Ministry of Health and Population on transporting sanitizer to districts outside Kathmandu.

NDL is currently producing up to 20,000 bottles of sanitizer daily as per the World Health Organization (WHO) standard by purchasing alcohol from various industries.

According to Bajracharya, some 10,000 to 12,000 bottles are sold daily in the market.

Besides sanitizer, the NDL has been manufacturing oral rehydration salt sachets, paracetamol, among other drugs.

The price of a 100-millilitre-bottle of sanitizer manufactured by NDL is Rs 175.