Bacterial load reduction efficacy, acceptability and cost benefit of a locally produced Hand sanitizer in a tertiary Hospital in Uyo, Nigeria

Local production of hand hygiene products result in increased availability and compliance with hand hygiene in healthcare settings and significant cost saving to hospitals if effective and acceptable. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness, acceptability, and cost benefit of a locally produced hand sanitizer to commercial hand sanitizer products. This was a comparative cross sectional study carried out among students of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, University of Uyo in July 2019. Three hand sanitizer products, one locally produced and two commercial hand sanitizer products were compared. Bacterial growth from swabs from the hands of sixty students collected before and after use of one of the three hand sanitizer products were compared to determine bacterial reduction. Participants also assessed the products by scoring the product on a questionnaire using a five-point scale. The cost per litre of hand sanitizer products was calculated and compared. The mean percentage reduction of bacterial colony-forming units (CFU) was highest for the locally produced hand sanitizer product. There was no significant difference between acceptability of products for the criteria assessed except colour for which the local product had higher acceptability score than other products. The locally produced hand sanitizer was much cheaper than the commercially products. The in-house produced hand sanitizer product provides higher bacterial reduction than commercial products, has good acceptability among users and provides significant cost savings to the hospital.