His Excellency the Minister of Health, Eng. Khalid Al-Falih, chaired yesterday (Tuesday), at the MOH Headquarters, the 6th meeting of the Hajj Preparatory Committees, in the presence of members of such committees. During the meeting, His Excellency was briefed about the latest preparations of the Hajj committees participating in the Ministry's plan for this year's Hajj season (1436H), as well as the preparations of Makkah and Madinah regions.
In the beginning of the meeting, the Deputy Minister of Health for Human Capital Planning and Development, who serves also as the Chairman of the Hajj Preparatory Committees, Dr. Emad bin Ali Al-Jahdali, expressed his gratitude to the minister of health for his attendance and keenness to follow up the very details of MOH preparations to serve the pilgrims during the upcoming Hajj season. He also extended his thanks to the heads of the Hajj Preparatory Committees on their vigorous efforts since an early time in order to reach the desired goals.
The Supervisor-General of the Health Services for Hajj and Umrah General Department, Dr. Hussein bin Abdullah Ghannam, explained that the meeting discussed a number of topics on the agenda, as His Excellence has listened to a detailed account of the committees’ work for this year's Hajj season. He said that “the Health Services for Hajj and Umrah General Department is coordinating with all committees in Makkah and Madinah, as well as outlets in health affairs general directorates, for preparing and coordinating all Hajj activities throughout the year, in addition to coordination with the Supreme Hajj Committee Secretariat at the Ministry of Interior, as well as other related departments and sectors and government bodies.”
Dr. Ghannam added that the MOH prepared last year 25 hospitals with a capacity of 5,000 beds, of which 500 beds were allocated for intensive care. It also operated health centers in Makkah and Madinah around the clock to offer 24/7 health services, in addition to health centers in the Holy Sites and seasonal centers on highways. Over and above, it provided 82 large, well-equipped ambulances to promote health services in Makkah and Madinah; that is to be added to other 100 small ambulances for field medicine as they were roaming over streets of Arafat and Mina for quick on-site treatment of cases, and transfer of other critical cases to health centers for hospitalization.
“Also,” he said, “the MOH equipped the command and control room to follow up the number of beds in the ICUs, and used and vacant inpatient beds, in addition to cases of infectious diseases and infection control. Such rooms were also meant to track ambulances transferring patients to hospitals, monitor emergency sections, and follow up all hospitals in Makkah, the Holy Sites and Madinah, besides monitoring the weather conditions.”
It's worth mentioning here that the Minister of Health, Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz al-Falih, paid an inspection tour yesterday (Tuesday), and checked on all health facilities in Makkah and the Holy Sites in Arafat, Mina and Muzdalifa to get reassured about their readiness to serve the pilgrims during the upcoming Hajj season.
It is also noteworthy that the manpower, which participated in the last year's Hajj season, amounted to 24,840 participants; of whom 784 were visiting manpower. The operations conducted in the past year are as follows: 26 open-heart surgeries in all Hajj areas, 383 cardiac catheterizations, 1,161 dialysis sessions, 10 delivery operations at the Holy Sites' hospitals and 73 endoscopies.