The UAE has ordered a recall of a batch of face masks because of concerns about possible contamination of the material used in its manufacture.
The Emirates Drug Establishment issued the recall for Nin 160 FMB-NML Facemask C G blue, batch number 20251015. It is described as blue in colour and three-ply in structure.
The Dubai Health Authority also issued a circular on Monday instructing healthcare centres to comply with the recall.
Officials said Ningbo ETDZ Holdings Ltd in China manufactured the masks, and Globemed Care LLC distributed them in the UAE.
The drug regulator said the recall was ordered after a quality complaint. Inspections identified foreign material or contamination in units from the affected batch.
Healthcare professionals, hospitals and clinics and pharmacies must immediately stop selling, supplying, distributing or using the affected batch.
They must identify and quarantine all available stock, then arrange for its return to the local supplier or distributor, Globemed Care LLC. They must also maintain records of quantities identified, quarantined, and returned.
Residents who purchased the affected product should stop using any packs with batch number 20251015 and return them to the point of purchase or supplier.
Healthcare providers must report any product quality complaints or adverse incidents related to the masks through EDE-approved reporting channels.
Globemed Care LLC has also been ordered to retrieve all distributed quantities from the UAE market.
It must also provide the regulator with details of quantities imported, distributed, returned, and remaining in stock, as well as a complete UAE distribution list.
The regulator also urged people to report any quality concerns or adverse incidents involving the product directly to the authority.