The primary health centers in Jeddah province continue providing its preventive, therapeutic, educational and ambulatory services for the pilgrims in the entrances, Hajj areas, pilgrims' gathering places and the main roads as scheduled.
The Consultant in Family Medicine and the Director of Centers and Sectors Affairs at Jeddah Health Affairs Directorate, Dr. Izdihar Abdul Salam Medani, said that the prepared peripheral centers as well as those located in the different Miqats (places for assuming Ihram) and on all the entrances, pilgrims passageways and highways are playing an effective role in providing health services for normal and emergency cases.
Likewise, she added that the health centers in Rabigh city located at Al-Juhfa Miqat and those available in Al-Laith city located at Yalamlam Miqat have received the coming pilgrims and provided them with the health services. In addition, the pilgrims were briefed on the health problems that might face them and how to deal with them through awareness lectures, brochures and booklets.
Within the same vein, Dr. Medani explained that the role of the health centers in all cities of the Kingdom starts enough time before the beginning of the Hajj season through the activation of their role in providing and giving vaccines to pilgrims, such as meningitis and influenza vaccines, that's to be added to providing the visitors with the proving documents necessary for the issuance of the Hajj permits.
She added that these centers are offering health services for the patients suffering from chronic diseases, indicating that there are seven sectors tasked with providing medical services for pilgrims including; Priman, Al-Salam, Al-Balad, Prince Abdul-Mageed, Rabigh, Al-Laith and Adhum.
Further, she added that the working hours in the centers located at the highways and roads, where pilgrims pass by, operate 24 hours a day during these holy seasons. In addition, these centers are provided with the means of ambulatory transportation, the needed equipments and manpower of different categories so as to be ready for dealing with the normal and emergency cases.
Dr. Medani added that the health workers are receiving training and scientific courses to enable them to deal with the different cases in the Hajj season according to the scientific updates in this regard. In addition, she said that these centers are provided with the needed medicines in order to provide the best health services, adding the Public Health Department directly oversees these centers as pat of its endeavors to ensure their readiness and to follow up the work process during the whole Hajj season.
It's worth mentioning here that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has prepared 141 health centers for this year's Hajj season, including 27 permanent health centers in the Holy Capital (Makkah), 9 seasonal centers on the Makkah-Madinah road, in addition to three centers inside the Holy Mosque in Makkah. As for the Holy Sites, there are 28 centers in Mina, 6 centers in Muzdalifa and 46 centers in Arafat.
In Madinah, there are 6 seasonal centers in the central area around the Prophet's Mosque, along with Al-Miqat health center, in addition to the health centers located at the main roads, including Al-Yotama and Al-Salsala health centers, besides four centers on the Madinah-Riyadh Highway and 6 others at the pilgrims' housing areas.