UN supports BD in setting standards of fabric mask

With the technical expertise of World Health Organization, the government has established minimum requirements for production of non-medical fabric masks for community use.

The standards have been developed in coordination with Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) with technical advice from WHO which led a working group of local PPE experts supported by USAID, JICA, BUET, ICDDR,B and FAO to elaborate the specifications and minimum testing requirements for fabric masks.

"We welcome the new set of standards which will make it easier for national manufacturers and NGOs to produce washable masks at an affordable price. This way we can avoid disposable masks adding to the waste problem," said Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, on Tuesday.

"We are very proud to have supported DGDA in making Bangladesh among the very few countries in the world with such standards for fabric masks, a major step forward in ensuring the population have access to quality protection masks, as this is proven to be an intervention with very high community impact in preventing the transmission of the new coronavirus," said Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative to Bangladesh.

It is an important step towards safe and regulated production of masks and providing essential guidelines to local manufacturers, ready-made garment (RMG) sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to join the fight against Covid-19, said the local UN office in a statement.

The activity has been carried out under the Bangladesh Preparedness and Response Plan.

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