The Ministry of Health (MOH) completed its Hajj preparations at hospitals and health centers across the Holy Sites. 26 health centers in Mina are done with preparations of advanced medical equipment, supplies, and highly-qualified staff to serve pilgrims.
The Director General of Hospitals and Head of the Hajj Technical Supervising Committee, Dr. AbdulAziz Al-Ghamdi, stated that MOH has equipped and prepared a number of health facilities to serve pilgrims, including 26 health centers in Mina, staffed with 750 doctors, nurses, technicians, and directors. That's to be added to Mina's 4 well-equipped hospitals.
Dr. al-Ghamdi said, "Health centers are divided into sectors disseminated across Mina, so that they would be within the reach of pilgrims' tents, and able to provide service to outpatients. Centers are deployed in a network, such that ensures MOH hospitals or facilities of other health and ambulatory sectors would be positioned at a range of 500 meters from the pilgrims' sites, so that they could reach and tend to cases quickly."
Al-Ghamdi commended the efforts exerted by the Head of Hajj Committees, Dr. Emad Al-Jahdali, and the Executive Assistant-Director of Makka Health Affairs for Hajj, Dr. Muwafaq Abu Taleb, as well as the team managing Mina health centers, first and foremost, Dr. Ayman Tarmazy.
For his part, Dr. Omar Al-Yahia, a member of the Hajj Technical Supervision Committee, said, "Health centers also support medical missions in case of emergency and provide them with medical supplies as needed."
Dr. Al-Yahia proclaimed that this year, the problem of pharmacies at Mina health centers being too small does no longer exist; "pharmacies have been expanded, thank Allah," he said.
Dr. Al-Yahia explained that due to Hajj season taking place in summer this year, and in the next few years, special attention has been given to dealing with heat exhaustion and sunstroke. "Workers were trained to deal with such cases, health centers were provided with medical and technical supplies such as water sprinkling fans (130 fans), plus 25 icemakers and other cooling devices," said Al-Yahia.
In the same context, Al-Yahia noted that MOH health centers in Mina had served about 148.000 outpatients during last Hajj season in 1435 H.