The Director General of Hospitals and Chairman of the Hajj Technical Supervising Committee, Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Hamid Al-Ghamdi, said that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has made all preparations and arrangements to ensure the safety of Hajj and pilgrims during this year’s Hajj season and provide pilgrims with high-quality preventive, therapeutic and ambulance services through the health facilities scattered over the different areas of the Kingdom, since the pilgrims’ entry into the Kingdom, passing by all roads they take to perform Hajj rituals, in addition to the Hajj Sites and Madinah and until their departure -Allah willing- for their countries healthily and safely.
Meanwhile, Dr. Al-Ghamdi said in a press conference that the MOH has prepared 25 hospitals, with a total capacity of 5,250 beds (4,200 clinical beds, 500 IC beds, and 550 emergency beds). He noted that these hospitals are covering all Hajj areas, including 7 hospitals in Makkah to provide health services for visitors and patients, 4 in Mina, 4 in Arafat, and 9 in Madinah; that’s to be added to King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah, which is used by the Ministry to provide specialized services within its lifesaving program to reduce the mortality rates amongst pilgrims, Allah willing.
Within the same vein, Dr. Al-Ghamdi added that the above-mentioned hospitals are further supported by 155 permanent and seasonal primary healthcare centers, disseminated throughout the Hajj sites as follows: 43 in Makkah, 78 in the Holy Sites, 16 emergency center in the Jamarat Bridge (Jisr al-Jamart), and 18 health centers in Madinah. They are used to serve the pilgrims and the visitors of Madinah and all Hajj areas and main roads leading to them.
In a similar fashion, Dr. Al-Ghamdi pointed out that the Hajj Technical Supervision Committee (on hospitals and health centers) includes a constellation of distinctive Saudi consultants in various health specialties and it works throughout the year, assuming the tasks of medical supervision over the hospitals and health centers in Makkah and the Holy Sites during the Hajj season, and making sure of the availability of work requirements, as well as supervising kidney and endoscopy services provided in Makkah and the Holy Sites during the Hajj season.
Dr. Al-Ghamdi noted that the committee has coordinated with the Manpower Committee to distribute the workforce, including physicians, nursing and administrative staff, to the hospitals and health centers operating in Hajj. He added that six advanced teams and three mini teams were formed for the treatment of burn and injury cases in Makkah, Madinah and the Holy Sites, whilst coordination was made with the Visiting Manpower Committee to recruit consultants in the following specialties: neurosurgery, thoracic surgery, plastic surgery and vascular surgery.
Regarding the MOH preparations to treat cases of sunstroke and heat stress, he explained that 208 spray fans were secured in Makkah and 96 in Madinah, in anticipation of the expected high temperature during the Hajj season, in addition to preparing special rooms for these fans to ensure drainage of spray water.
Further, Dr. Al-Ghamdi said that the committee has set work policies and procedures on how to deal with cases of heat stress and sunstroke that will be published on the Ministry's Portal. Additionally, he revealed coordination with the World Health Organization and the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to publish these policies and procedures on their websites, as well as designing and printing awareness brochures in Arabic and English to be distributed to pilgrims’ gathering areas (ports, the main roads leading to the Holy Sites) via luminous billboards.
All the more, Dr. Al-Ghamdi indicated that the Ministry organized nine training courses to raise awareness of health cadres regarding the treatment of cases of sunstroke and heat stress, including a training course for the directors of hospitals of Makkah, the Holy Sites and Madinah, in addition to the heads of medical sections and physicians working in these hospitals. “This training course was organized in Madinah on Dhul-Qa'dah 4th, 1436H,” he said, adding that coordination and preparations are currently underway to organize a similar training course in Al-Nour Specialized Hospital in Makkah on Monday Dhul-Qa'dah 16th, 1436 H, as well as 8 training courses to be organized on Dhul Hijjah 2-5 targeting the workers in the Holy Sites’ hospitals, in addition to a training course targeting the physicians and workers in the health centers in the Holy Sites.
Concluding his speech to reporters, Dr. Al-Ghamdi said that the ministry has revised and printed the manual of health practitioners during the Hajj season, which contains the common diseases in Hajj and the cases expected to be received based on the MOH’s accumulative experiences in this respect.