With the death in Riyadh on Monday of the Kingdom’s ninth swine flu victim, the virus has obviously gained a firm foothold here and the cases are increasing. In the past fortnight, they have doubled from around 300 to 595 although health officials privately say that the numbers are over 700 — and that is only counting those who have been diagnosed.
People are worried. It will soon be Ramadan and then Haj. Every year, a range of viruses are brought in by pilgrims which naturally leads to many of the Kingdom’s residents coming down with some form of flu. Many now opt for a flu vaccination before Ramadan. In general, it works. But a flu vaccination is most unlikely to work against swine flu — and the vaccination that will is not yet available anywhere. Testing has just begun in the US but it will probably be late September at the earliest before it is publicly available. That is too late for the Umrah season in Ramadan. It would be in time for Haj at the end of November but will there be enough supplies of the vaccine for Saudi Arabia by then? The US and Western Europe plan to get their hands on as much as they can as early as possible — and since that is where most of the drugs will initially be manufactured, they will probably succeed.
The Saudi ministries of Haj and of health are taking measures to try and prevent swine flu from spreading. A series of recommendations were drawn up at a special meeting in Jeddah at the end of June and they include not giving Haj visas to pregnant women, to anyone under 12 or over 65 or to anyone with a chronic illness. Applicants for Haj visas must provide a doctor’s letter confirming they are in good health and show that they have had a flu vaccination before coming to the Kingdom. The recommendations were endorsed at a special meeting of Arab health ministers in Cairo on July 20 and are expected to be approved shortly by the Council of Ministers. However, the recommendations will not apply to Umrah visitors — there will be hundreds of thousands of them during Ramadan — and there are concerns about how effective the recommendations can be. It is not going to be too difficult to forge a doctor’s letter; Saudi consulates will never know. As for a flu vaccination, it will not be effective against swine flu.
One useful move would be to require airlines flying anyone into the Kingdom to check that passengers are well before boarding. It can be done: a quick swab in the departure lounge. Enough countries already test people on arrival. How much better to stop them before they leave rather than turn them back when they arrive.
Given the inevitability that some swine flu victims will get in as well as the experience of flu outbreaks during Ramadan and Haj in the past, Saudis and expatriates living in the Kingdom need to know that they are going to be protected. The authorities are taking this very seriously but people want clear information about what is happening and reassurance that decisions will be fully implemented and that they will work. People need to know what to do if they think they might be infected and that they will not be turned away from hospitals simply because they are not rich enough or have not got the right papers. Treating this virus should be free; the government should pick up the bill. That is very much in Saudi Arabia’s interest.
