RIYADH/JEDDAH, 12 December 2005 — Saudi Arabia has taken adequate precautionary measures to prevent any outbreak of bird flu in the country ahead of the annual Haj.
“No bird flu cases have been reported so far in the Kingdom,” said Dr. Khaled Marghalani, a spokesman for the Health Ministry. “We are following up the progress of the disease on the international level,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying. He said the ministry had already purchased an adequate quantity of antiviral drug Tamiflu and has signed a memorandum of understanding with the drug’s manufacturer to ensure its adequate supply.
Dr. Sahl Al-Sabban of the Haj Ministry said his ministry had taken measures to protect pilgrims and prevent any outbreaks of bird flu during the Haj. “We have informed all foreign governments about the health conditions to be fulfilled by their pilgrims,” Sabban said, adding that the pilgrims would not be allowed to bring foodstuffs into the Kingdom. He said the ministry would closely monitor pilgrims on arrival and take any suspected cases of avian flu infection to hospitals.
“We will also closely monitor the catering companies which supply food to the pilgrims and ask them to comply with health requirements,” he added. He said the Haj Ministry would assign field teams to its emergency and operations departments, the Tawafa organizations and other related pilgrim service agencies in order to monitor safety measures. “We’ll mobilize all our resources to carry out health instructions and preventive measures,” he added.
Sabban’s assurances came amid fears that the more than two million pilgrims who gather in Makkah for the annual Haj would risk creating the conditions in which a pandemic could develop.
The deadly virus cannot pass from person to person as ordinary seasonal flu does, but experts fear it could mutate and then be transmitted from person to person. The risk of mutation would increase if anyone with bird flu came to Makkah and mingled with people suffering from ordinary seasonal flu.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health will launch a major campaign to educate foreign pilgrims on the preventive measures that should be taken during their stay in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
“As part of the program, the ministry will distribute 1.6 million pamphlets in 10 languages to carry its health message among Haj pilgrims during this season,” Hamad K. Al-Khowailed, the director of health education and supervisor of Healthy Cities Program in the Ministry of Health, told Arab News yesterday.
He added that the ministry has chalked up a comprehensive program to inform the pilgrims to follow basic health rules. The pamphlets are being printed in English, Arabic and many foreign languages. Al-Khowailed said the ministry is displaying posters at public places within Makkah and Madinah and at pilgrim entry points to pass on the health message.
Arrangements have also been made for the arriving pilgrims at the Haj Terminal to listen to the health messages in several languages.
“Such messages are relayed among different nationalities in their respective languages,” the director said, adding that this is being done through loudspeakers fixed to the carts at the terminal.
The handout would advise the pilgrims on their personal cleanliness, environmental health and their general conduct when moving in crowds. Pilgrims are told to wash their hands before they take their food, put waste into proper receptacles and to cough or sneeze covering their mouth and nose with tissues or handkerchiefs. They have also been asked to wash fruits before they eat and are advised not to shave with used blades.
The Health Ministry has mobilized more than 9,000 doctors, nurses and technicians for Haj duty this year, according to Dr. Khaled Al-Sumairy, health director in Makkah. He said a good number of visiting consultants and nurses will also take part in Haj service. “We have readied all hospitals and health centers in Makkah to provide services to pilgrims,” Sumairy said.
There are seven hospitals and some 70 clinics in Arafat and Mina in addition to seven government hospitals and 98 medical clinics in Makkah, and eight hospitals and 34 clinics in Madinah. A fleet of 145 ambulances will be deployed in the holy sites.
On instructions given by the Ministry of Health, the Kingdom’s foreign mission checks vaccination certificates when it issues Haj visas. Al-Khowailed said arrangements have been made at all entry points to the Kingdom for pilgrims to get vaccinations if necessary. The ministry also broadcasts special Haj programs for pilgrims on radio and television.
