Al-Rabeeah made the observation during an inspection tour to King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA). There are 20,000 Health Ministry’s doctors and other staff working round the clock to ensure maximum health security of pilgrims in line with the directive of the Saudi government.

The new health services to pilgrims introduced by the ministry in the current Haj season include open-heart surgery and many other vital specializations.

The minister also visited the health monitoring section at the airport and ensured that all equipment and men were working at optimal level.

There are 612 health workers, including doctors, in the Haj lounge. He also scrutinized the progress in many health centers in the airport. Each center has 13 workers.

According to the figures supplied by the ministry, the number of vaccinated pilgrims from countries where the meningitis has been reported has been put at 102,997 while 204,157 pilgrims were administered oral vaccines by Sunday.

The number of pilgrims vaccinated against yellow fever in their countries was 122,254 and oral vaccines of polio were given to 381,524 pilgrims.

Arab News also observed health workers distributing awareness booklets in major world languages to pilgrims.