SFDA, represented by Medical Devices &Products sector  participated in the International Radiology Medicine Conference , held during the period 16 to 20 Rabi II (16-20 February ) at the InterContinental Hotel, with participation of 65 international speakers and 120 local speakers. The conference discussed clinical applications and future developments in the various fields of radiology diagnostic and therapeutic applications, as well as in the field of radiation protection, during workshops.

H.E The Chief Executive Officer of SFDA, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Almishal explained during opening of the conference that follow-up of medical devices in the Kingdom and ensuring their performance and quality in addition to market control, is one of SFDA’s mandate. SFDA worked to complete the infrastructure for this task via creating an Integrated Control system through which marketing of medical products and devices licenses are issued, and follow-up is conducted  during their lifetime.                                                       

Dr. Almishal pointed out that the establishment of  the National Center for Medical Devices Reports (NCMDR), in collaboration with the American Research Institute of Emergency Care and Management of Information Technology in SFDA, aimed too receive reports about medical devices and products’ problems and accidents that may be sent by hospitals and healthcare facilities and companies operating in this field. This was  in addition to the exchange of information with international regulators, such as WHTF  (NCAR) , which includes United States , Canada ,EU, Australia , Japan, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia; and Reporting Center of East Asian countries (SADS) ,Which can be accessed by SFDA to obtain information related to accidents and injuries of medical devices as soon as possible , and hence inform the healthcare facilities in the Kingdom in order to avoid  recurrence of same. 

Dr. Mohammed Mishal emphasized that SFDA is working to secure radiological safety for diagnostic and therapeutic devices, by verifying the validity of the of the devices and quality by studying the technical documentation and evaluation of clinical studies prior to their authorize in the Kingdom’s market. SFDA  also issues importing permits for radioactive materials and medical devices that are used in the diagnosis and treatment.

It worth mentioning that SFDA participated in the Radiology Conference through workshops held during the conference with a number of papers presented which dealt with radiological safety in addition to  awareness of  health practitioners to educated them on how to provide reports of medical devices or products.