RIYADH: Around 69 percent of the nurses deployed this year for Haj are Saudis, who are dedicated to serve the guests of Allah, a senior official from the Ministry of Health (MoH) said here on Wednesday.

Assistant Undersecretary for Medical Services Assistance and Chairperson of the Committee of medical services to help Hajis (nursing, nutrition, forensic medicine, pharmacology) Dr. Mounira Bint Hamdan Al-Osaim said that this year the MoH has distributed the number of nurses proportionately among all its facilities according to the needs of the areas in the holy cities.

The ministry has deployed 5,695 nurses, 3,896 of whom are locals, she added.

She added that the number of Saudi nurses working during the Haj has been increasing year by year. “We plan out this year’s Haj program based on the previous year’s performance which gives an insight into the problems,” she said.

Al-Osaim pointed out that the number of inpatients tend to increase during the peak of the season in Makkah and Arafat. Accordingly, she said the ministry has made special arrangements to accommodate such a rush. There are some 132 specialized nurses in various areas to serve the pilgrims during major surgeries, attending to accident and heatstroke patients.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Khalid Al-Falih paid a visit to Madinah on Wednesday to inspect various health facilities in the region.

Health Ministry spokesman Faisal Al-Zahrani said that the visit was to ensure the preparedness and readiness to serve the pilgrims in case of health emergencies.

The directors of various departments in the Madinah health region briefed the minister on the health situation in the area. The minister, who also chaired the regional Haj committee meeting, also paid visits to various health facilities. He also took the opportunity of availing himself of a flu shot which is given as a preventive measure against influenza.

Vaccination against meningitis has been made mandatory for all pilgrims including those who come to the holy cities from various parts of the Kingdom.

The ministry has also advised local and foreign pilgrims to take a flu shot as a prevention against influenza.