Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review whether alcohol-free hand sanitisers which are independently lab-certified to be effective can be included in public guidance alongside alcohol-based products.

The Government’s advice is for people to wash their hands more often than usual, for 20 seconds using soap and hot water, particularly after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose, or after being in public areas where other people are doing so and to use hand sanitiser if that is all they have access to.

The Government agrees with the World Health Organization recommendations that hand sanitiser should contain a minimum of 60% alcohol, but in line with Health and Safety Executive guidance, hand sanitisers with different levels of alcohol, and those hand sanitisers that use other active substances (non-alcohol based) can also be effective.