Saudi Arabia: Chauffeur arrested for illegally practicing homeopathy in Taif
50-year-old Sudanese man found with herbs and oils of unknown sources, plus tools
Abu Dhabi: A Sudanese man has been arrested for illegally practicing homeopathic medicine in his Taif home, police said.
Major Mohammed Al Ghamdi, spokesman for Mecca Police, said the security authorities in Taif governorate have arrest a 50-year-old Sudanese chauffeur for illegally practicing homeopathic medicine in his house.
“The fake homeopath was remanded in custody and measures were taken to refer him to the Public Prosecution for further investigation and trial,” Major Al Ghamdi added.
He said herbs and oils of unknown sources as well as a set of tools were seized.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, in coordination with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, began inspections of herb stores, to ensure their compliance with the recently revised regulations of health requirements.
The first phase included visiting 349 stores in the Riyadh and Qassim regions, with the aim of verifying the implementation of the updated regulation, and distributing instructional posters to be posted compulsorily inside the stores, bearing the phrase “The use of medicinal herbs and plants in a therapeutic manner has no scientific basis”.
The move aims to educate consumers and workers in herb shops of the need of adherence to regulations.
The new rules included restricting the activity of herb stores to selling herbs and medicinal plants approved by the Food and Drug Authority and selling them in sealed packages in their natural form with a label on each package, indicating the name of the herb or medicinal plant, the country of origin, prohibitions for use and the shelf life.
The new rules also included the prohibition of writing any medical allegation on the label of any plant, medicinal herb, or health preparation, whether it is single or combined.
They also prohibited display or sale of medicines or any pharmaceutical preparation used in human treatment, nutritional supplement products, or prohibited substances.
The regulations prohibited the display, advertising, sale or marketing of herbs and medicinal plants that are prohibited to be sold according to the list published on the website of the Food and Drug Authority.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority affirmed it will complete its inspection tours of herb shops in all regions, to ensure their compliance with the updated regulation, in addition to posting posters to educate consumers.