The Ministry of Health )MOH( has been keen this year to support the health centers at King Abdul-Aziz International Airport (KAIA), Jeddah, with all curative and preventive equipment, as well as medical and pharmaceutical supplies, in addition to the human cadres qualified medically, technically and administratively, with the aim of providing the highest health services to the Guests of Allah (pilgrims).
In this regard, Director of Health Control Centers at King Abdul-Aziz Airport, Abdul-Ghani bin Mohammed Al-Maliki, underscored that the medical and technical teams in the centers have checked 521,886 pilgrims, provided preventive treatment to 88,711 pilgrims, and given the oral polio vaccine to 172,672 pilgrims.
He said that the number of pilgrims who have been vaccinated against the quartet meningitis reached 471,513, while the number of pilgrims coming through the airport who need to be referred to Jeddah's hospitals has reached 5 cases, including some chronic and severe diseases such as: heart diseases, high blood pressure, suspected brain clots and heart and cerebral clot.
He pointed out that the health control teams at the airport are continuing their health monitoring and follow-up procedures by reviewing the international system certificates, making sure they meet the overall health provisions, in addition to providing the preventive treatment (vaccines and serums), as well as implementing programs of health awareness for pilgrims on the common diseases during Hajj and ways to prevent them.
He further added that the number of those designated to work at the Airport's control center, including various medical, technical and administrative fields, rose to more than 620 designees from the different health facilities in Jeddah, who have been assigned to work at the center to boost the number of the cadre during the Hajj season, so as to enable the center to carry out its full role in providing the health services for pilgrims.
He said, "The health centers at the port 24/7, where the staff apply the full health requirements to be done to those coming for Hajj, verify of their safety, and make sure that they are free from any epidemic and infectious diseases. They also provide the treatment and health care for the Guests of Allah and transferring the critical cases to the MOH hospitals in Jeddah."
For his part, Chairman of Health Awareness Teams at the Airport, Abdul-Aziz Al-Hadeethi, said the health awareness teams, assigned by the MOH to educate the pilgrims arriving through KAIA in Jeddah, play their role in educating pilgrims, through the provision of publications and awareness gifts including many pictured and printed educating materials in several languages, with the aim of familiarizing them about the risks of diseases and how to prevent and avoid them, protecting them and other pilgrims against any disease, Allah forbid! He pointed out that the awareness team at the airport have dealt with 2547 pilgrims, by means of providing them with the direct health education and answering their health inquiries concerning the health educational aspects.
He said, "The awareness teams have provided 29,620 leaflets (A4), 35,142 pocket-leaflets, 22,328 healthy tissues boxes and 99,465 leaflets about hand-washing." He added that the Ministry has been keen to intensify the health awareness programs for pilgrims this year, with the aim of upgrading the level of the health awareness for pilgrims, thus helping to protect them against the infectious diseases and maintaining the health and safety of the pilgrims from their arrival at the Jeddah airport until their departure to their countries safely, Allah willing.