Masks and Disinfectants Produced Under Production Mobilization Campaign

Under TİM's leadership, 1 million masks and 100,000 litres of disinfectant were produced to meet the needs of public hospitals as part of the Production Mobilisation effort. Within this scope, İKMİB (Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association) completed the delivery of 100,000 litres of disinfectant. Highlighting the vital importance of the chemical sector, which touches every aspect of life in the fight against COVID-19, İKMİB Board Chairman Adil Pelister said in his statement: "During this difficult period for our country, the union of Turkey's second largest export sector, the chemical industry—İKMİB—has taken on an additional national duty by acting with a "HEALTH FIRST" understanding, as befits our responsibility. From the beginning, in line with the decisions and measures taken by our President, the Ministry of Health, our ministries and our Scientific Board, we rapidly launched a new production mobilisation under TİM's leadership to meet the needs of our health sector. We have committed that İKMİB will ensure the supply of all necessary chemicals, including disinfectants and cleaning materials, for all our physicians and health personnel working tirelessly day and night. Within this scope, we delivered 100,000 litres of disinfectant product to the Ministry of Health, Istanbul University Çapa Hospital, Sivas Cumhuriyet University Hospital, Akdeniz University Hospital and the Turkish Red Crescent."

Pelister continued: "As Association Chairman and an exporting industrialist, I understand the difficulties of our exporters. But when there is a fire in our country, it is very important that we use the products that will extinguish that fire within our country.

I want to emphasise once more that we must act as one with our state, heed the warnings of our official authorities and fulfil their requests. When this process is over, we will work harder to close our gaps, increase our exports and develop our country's economy. We would also like to thank our TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle for his contributions to the production mobilisation effort." Noting that ethyl alcohol is used in disinfectant production, Pelister said: "As a result of our efforts as İKMİB, we made an important contribution by redirecting our sector's ethyl alcohol requirement from the 3 percent use of bioethanol produced from molasses in sugar factories in fuel, to disinfectant and cologne production. However, the difficulties experienced in customs on alcohol imports need to be minimised. It is crucial for disinfectant production that the alcohol import permit procedures obtained from the Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Authority (TAPDK) and the permit procedures for our domestic companies to obtain ethyl alcohol from sugar factories be accelerated. We have a monthly disinfectant production capacity of 2.5 million litres. We need to utilise this capacity fully at present. All obstacles in the supply of raw materials and packaging materials must be removed," he said.

Points to note when purchasing disinfectant:

Adil Pelister listed the points to be noted when purchasing disinfectant as follows:

• Disinfectant and mask products must be purchased from reliable sources and the product tracking system (ÜTS) record must be checked.
• The date and number of the licence obtained from the Ministry of Health must be on the label on the disinfectant product.
• The company's full address must be shown along with the place of manufacture.
• Consumers can call and verify the addresses written on the disinfectant bottles.
• Especially the licence should be requested, that is, whether there is production authorisation.
• Hand-cleaning products must contain antiseptics.
• These products are sold at a certain price point; very cheap disinfectant products should not be preferred.
• Some inexpensive products can also cause problems such as allergies, peeling, wear and redness on the skin.