His Excellency the Vice Minister of Health for Health Affairs, Dr. Mansour Naser Al Howasi, has headed on Sunday afternoon the meeting of the National Committee for Contagious Diseases held at his ministerial office.
The Committee has reviewed the developments of the epidemiological situation of the novel Coronavirus on the national and global levels, as well as the published and unpublished scientific researches, and clinical studies on the exact genetic structure of the virus during the last period.
It is worth mentioning that policies and procedures, adopted to deal with the virus, have been updated. The Committee also reviewed the agenda of the Second World Congress on Mass-Gathering Medicine to be held in Riyadh between 15-17/11/1434H (corresponding to 21-23/9/2013). The Congress, which will be attended by a group of scientists and researchers specialized in viruses and infection from all over the world, will mainly focus on the novel Coronavirus.
Within the same vein, the Committee reviewed the ongoing follow-up reports and epidemiological surveillance works. The meeting also discussed the actions carried out by the Committee in preparation for the pilgrimage season of this year (1434H) to maintain the health and safety of citizens, residents and pilgrims.
In this context, the Committee focused on the importance of the continued application of health requirements that should be met in the performers of Umrah and Hajj, referring to the previous recommendations to postpone the performance of Umrah and Hajj for the elderly people as well as patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as patients with heart, kidney, respiratory and diabetes disorders. The Committee also recommended postponement of the performance of Umrah and Hajj this year for patients suffering from the disease of the acquired and congenital immunodeficiency, as well as the tumor patients, pregnant women and children.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has issued health requirements for performers of Umrah and Hajj this year (1431H) and informed the concerned authorities to circulate these prerequisites to Saudi Embassies and missions abroad, to be applied when issuance of visas for Umrah and Hajj performers this year.
The Ministry pointed out that it follows up the epidemiological developments of diseases regularly, adding that the concerned authorities will be informed of any amendment to such requirements.
It is worth mentioning that the health requirements have focused this year on several axes; such as, yellow fever, meningitis, polio, and seasonal influenza.
The Ministry concluded that the health authorities in the states, from which the Umrah performers are coming, must inform their citizens of the infectious diseases, namely, their types, symptoms, transmission methods, complications, and ways of protection against them.