The Authority of People with Disability has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority to enhance the services and facilities provided to persons with disabilities and to raise the level of prevention in various fields. The Authority of People with Disability represented by his excellency the CEO, Dr. Hisham bin Mohammed Al-Haidari, and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), his Excellency the CEO, Dr. Hisham bin Saad Al-Jadai signed the memorandum of cooperation. The memorandum encourages food companies, restaurants, cafes, and large food markets to voluntarily use Braille in food products and menus. It also urges pharmaceutical companies to develop facilities for people with disability who are blind, especially on OTC medicines, by printing Braille on outer medicine containers and ingredients with the addition of barcodes.
As stipulated in the Memorandum of Cooperation, the Parties shall exchange data, information, and scientific and practical experience and participate in exhibitions, seminars, conferences, workshops, and awareness campaigns organized by the parties in joint fields. They will also activate relevant global days, contribute to knowledge transfer, support research and studies, and encourage the employment of people with disability in food and pharmaceutical companies.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority will contribute to translating awareness videos into sign language, developing channels and tools for reporting and communicating with people with disability, enabling them to interact in line with their status to report and inquire about medical devices. They will also align the website according to W3C standards, provide awareness media on medical devices and reporting methods in line with the categories of persons with disabilities, while urging private companies to provide them with devices and at points of sale. Under the memorandum, the Authority of People with Disability will provide workshops for representatives of companies and owners of major food markets to raise awareness on how to deal with persons with varying disabilities in line with their needs. It will also provide awareness materials that serve persons with disability to participate in social media in cooperation with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority.