RIYADH, 27 November 2007 — The Health Ministry will launch a state-of-the-art service that would streamline the process of identifying the location of pilgrims in hospitals at the holy sites during the coming Haj.
Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie announced news of the new technology. “In the past Hajis would go from one hospital to another to find their patients within the holy sites. The new service will help them locate patients at the touch of a button from their computer,” he said, adding that the new service will provide details from hospitals in Makkah, Mina, Arafat and Madinah.
Al-Manie, who chaired a Haj Health Committee meeting yesterday, also unveiled a series of plans that will be carried out in the holy cities.
The ministry has also hired doctors from Turkey, the Philippines and Pakistan to provide medical care to pilgrims, he added. The minister said that the recently renovated Jebel Al-Rahma Hospital in Arafat would be officially opened by Interior Minister Prince Naif. The ministry has ensured an adequate supply of drugs and medicines to treat pilgrims, he said.
As part of its health education campaign, the ministry will send out short health messages to pilgrims when they move from one place to another during the pilgrimage.
“The short message service advises pilgrims from time to time on various health issues,” he said.
Dr. Khalid Dhafer, general director of Health Affairs in the Makkah region, said arrangements have been made to assist pilgrims. He added that the ministry’s emergency team would work round-the-clock at all strategic points.
“The ministry is closely monitoring the movement of pilgrims at all entry points to the Kingdom to check carriers of infectious diseases. The health officials will check for cases of meningitis, polio, yellow fever and other diseases that are endemic to some countries. Arrangements have been made to vaccinate pilgrims if they have not taken it in their countries of origin,” he said.
On arrival at the Haj terminal, pilgrims have been advised to tell the Saudi authorities if they suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma and cardiac and kidney ailments. Data collected will then be stored for future purposes.
Pilgrims will be notified of medical facilities available in the holy cities. There are 77 Primary Health Care (PHC) centers and 15 government and private hospitals in Makkah, and 123 PHC centers and 21 private and public sector hospitals in Madinah.
“As part of the program, the ministry will also distribute 1.7 million pamphlets in 13 languages to carry its health messages among pilgrims,” Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Khaled Al-Mirghalani said, pointing out that this includes material in English, Arabic, French, Urdu, Indonesian, Iranian, Russian, Turkish, Chinese and Bengali.
The ministry is also conducting special Haj programs for pilgrims through television and radio. “These programs focus on foreign pilgrims, who will be guided by the instructions given by the health authorities,” he added.
For further information on the activities of the Haj Health Committee visit www.moh.gov.sa/haj
