MAKKAH — The number of Saudi factories producing sterilizers and sanitizers has reached 60 producing approximately 3,545,820 liters within a week, the spokesman of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) Tayseer Al-Mfarrej was quoted as saying by Saudi Press Agency on Monday. Meanwhile, the number of factories making face masks has totaled eight with a weekly production capacity of 3,806,000 face masks, while the number of factories for personal protective equipment is three making around 94,500 medical gears weekly. Al-Mfarrej said that during the crisis period, the SFDA conducted 32,289 inspection rounds, monitored 2,430 violations, seized 29 million packages of devices and medicines, and 8,353,831 kg of food. He added that the authority's call center received more than 103,606 reports and enquiries, the number of cleared shipments reached 54,602, and the cleared products totaled 243,082. Al-Mfarrej also shed light on an app named "Tameni" (reassure me) that facilitates in locating nearby pharmacies having sanitizers and face masks. The app is linked to over 1,000 pharmacies in different governorates and cities. The SFDA added that the available medical requirements used in the prevention of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, like face masks and sanitizers, are updated immediately via the electronic link. The app facilitates locating of referral pharmacies, which are more likely to have supplies of medicines and medical requirements than other pharmacies. The number of such pharmacies at present is 170 distributed in different parts of the Kingdom. "Tameni" app also displays information on the medicine, alternative medications and information registered at the SFDA. It also displays warnings on certain medicines and recalling them if necessary, how to lodge a complaint and report unavailability of the required medicine, or report side effects of medications, among other services. The SFDA said that the app also facilitates in finding non-medicinal products supervised by the authority. These include food supplements, nutrients, medical equipment and cosmetics by scanning the barcode of the product or the commercial name, for the data and information of interest to the consumer, to be displayed on the screen. This is especially so for food products and to determine if they cause any allergy. This is in addition to data on medical equipment and devices registered at the SFDA and their commercial details, apart from information on cosmetic products registered at the authority.
