The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) is offering an online toolkit with guidelines from major public health organizations on compounding alcohol-based hand sanitizers and the preparation of hand sanitizers by manufacturers, pharmacies and other facilities. The toolkit was developed to help organizations meet the demand for these products, as shortages of commercially manufactured sanitizers have occurred.

The toolkit includes important information from the World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other public health organizations. It includes USP recommendations from its Compounding Expert Committee, including different formulations and alternative ingredients. As the pandemic continues, additional formulations may be added to address ingredient shortages. The toolkit also contains relevant USP standards used for the preparation of hand sanitizers.

“Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading the virus to others. Hand sanitizers are critical in situations where soap and water are not readily available. This is particularly important for people who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as health care professionals,” said Jaap Venema, chief science officer for USP. “Keeping health care workers safe can help reduce the overall burden of this deadly virus.”

Technical questions and requests should be directed to the USP Healthcare Quality and Safety staff at [email protected].

For more information, visit www.usp.org.