covid19 - Giving out Free CNA/ NEA/ Temasek Foundation

Reference to Temasek Foundation, Channel News Asia, NEA, MOH & PA

My name is Aldrin Tee, and I am a 2004 LifeSciences Graduate from NUS with Concentrations in Biomedical Sciences & Biology; and a former Biology teacher in RGS and SST. Currently, I'm a social impact entrepreneur.

Firstly I want to applaud all parties involved in the fight against covid19. I am extremely proud to be Singaporean and to see all the efforts put in are first world, and above and beyond expectations. Please keep up all the good work! =)

Just to share some concerns that I noticed while reading the news:

In Reference to article published by CNA "All Singapore households to receive 500ml of free hand sanitiser: Temasek Foundation" on 17 Mar 2020:

"A zero-alcohol sanitiser is gentle on the hands, safe for children and non-flammable, which makes it safe to use in places like kitchens, said Mr Lim.

The sanitiser will have 0.054 per cent of benzalkonium chloride (BKC). According to interim guidelines by the National Environment Agency, 0.05 per cent of BKC is sufficient for use against coronaviruses."
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid19-free-hand-sanitiser-singapore-households-temasek-12548450

1. The safety of the use of Benzalkonium Chloride (BKC/BACs) in hand sanitizers is still undetermined. The US FDA has warranted further investigation pending a ban. Latest update April 2019 - https://chemicalwatch.com/76526/us-fda-bans-28-substances-from-hand-sanitisers

2. There is still conflicting information on the efficacy of Benzalkonium Chloride (BKC/BACs) on Coronaviruses, with little literature on the SARS-nCoV2 virus. As much as it is logical to expect that BACs can disrupt the lipid coating of the virus based on biochemistry, however real-world corroborative data is still required to ensure that it is indeed efficacious in its claims. - https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(20)30046-3/fulltext

3. The guidelines listed in the NEA website, shows that the BKC reference was to a research paper published in 1988 done on canine coronaviruses.

https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/public-cleanliness/environmental-cleaning-guidelines/guidelines/interim-list-of-household-products-and-active-ingredients-for-disinfection-of-covid-19

4. Our own Ministry of Health MOH guidelines, as well as the guidelines from many Health related agencies, are that Soap and alcohol-based hand sanitizers are to be used for hand hygiene. Non-alcoholic solutions that contain Benzalkonium Chloride (BKC/BACs) are to be used for disinfecting surfaces.
https://www.moh.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider5/2019-ncov/covid-19-pss-educational-material_final.pdf / https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/infection-control/hcp-hand-sanitizer.html

5. Several weeks ago, I had a meetup with a Community Center Representative in my estate, as well as the chairperson of the Citizens Committee regards to the placement of the non-alcoholic hand-sanitizers in the lifts in the estate. They seemed to be unaware of the recommendations made by WHO, MOH or govt outreach to use alcohol-based sanitizers. They explained they had based their purchase decision on the claims made by the supplier of the products, from which they purchased huge volumes.

6. Just sharing my opinions here based only on my individual experience: I observe there is a general lack of good science and hygiene literacy. Educated as we are, there are still gaps in knowledge and application. In my random communication with people, many cannot differentiate between viruses and bacteria, what inhibits growth vs inactivating (or 'killing') of viruses, what kind of products work on each (antibiotics for flu), and the difference between marketing claims and authoritative science.

7. Some residents and members of my local community that I encounter, from old folks to middle-aged individuals, seem to be confused by different recommendations from the authorities. Even highly educated individuals are posting questions on social media: Whether they should stick to alcohol hand sanitizers or non-alcoholic hand sanitizers.

8. It is important that we educate especially our community leaders, media, volunteers and the social sectors to ensure that the guidelines are properly adhered to, and not to contradict or confuse the general public. We regard our news outlets, government agencies, corporate and community leaders highly and whenever there are contradictions and conflicting reports, it generates a small amount of misconceptions that increases the difficulty to gain the public trust in reliable and authoritative information in the future.

9. With the wide-spread sharing of misinformation and false facts between people on social media and amongst coffeeshop conversations, I felt that there is a need to nip this in the bud and hope that there will be some clarifications on this matter, so that there continuous consistency and improvement in quality in our daily lives and in the fight against covid19.

10. Once again, I am extremely grateful for the services and efforts rendered by all the stakeholders mentioned in this letter. I will also do my part and utmost best in helping to guard against clarifying misconceptions and as part of my work, be involved in social projects that aim to serve the community. Please let me know if there are areas and ways which I can be useful in service to your efforts.

References

Organisations Involved

Temasek Foundation - https://www.temasekfoundation.org.sg/ - TFadmin@temasekfoundation.org.sg
Channel News Asia - digitalnews@mediacorp.com.sg.
National Environment Agency (SG) - Only feedback form. Limited Characters.
Ministry of Health (SG) - Only feedback form. Limited Characters.
People Association (SG) - Only feedback form. Limited Characters.