RIYADH: Interior Minister Prince Naif, who is also the chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, issued yesterday letters of accreditation to 9,546 Ministry of Health officials for serving Haj pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah in 2006.
“Such awards are incentives for officials who were responsible for successfully implementing the Haj Action Plan,” said Khalid Al-Shamry, chairman of the Haj Preparatory Committee, in a statement issued yesterday.
He pointed out that besides other health officials, a team of 10,000 medics and paramedics were deployed last year to serve the pilgrims providing curative and preventive care in Makkah and Madinah.
Shamry added that there were 21 hospitals and 145 health care centers in Makkah, Madinah, and other Haj sites, such as Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, to treat pilgrims.
“It was a gigantic task for the health officials to handle a large group of patients who came from all corners of the world,” he said, pointing out that they not only treat patients at the hospitals but also take preventive measures to avoid outbreak of infectious diseases within the two holy cities. During the last four years, he said, around 2.7 million pilgrims have received medical treatment from the health institutions in the holy cities.
Eighty-six percent of them were foreign pilgrims. A total of 7,554 pilgrims were hospitalized during the period and this was a fraction compared to the pilgrims who come from all parts of the globe, he said.
The Ministry of Health has urged countries sending pilgrims to abide by the health requirements that should be met by those coming to perform Haj this year.
It has asked the Foreign Ministry to inform the concerned governments of these requirements through the Saudi missions abroad. It said that all pilgrims, coming from the countries hit by yellow fever should present a certificate according to international health regulations, in addition to a certificate of immunization against meningitis.
