The MOH’s Global Center for Mass Gathering Medicine (GCMGM) has introduced a new tool, dubbed ‘Salem Tool’, for assessment of health risks in gatherings and public places, as well as putting forth recommendations for promoting health safety, and prevention of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). As part of its unstinting efforts, the Center has orchestrated the National Risk Communication Plan and developed an early warning system to address public health issues, including the COVID-19 outbreak.
GCMGM is a global center that works hand-in-hand with the WHO in the domain of gathering health management. Being one of the world’s few centers specialized in this area, GCMGM seeks to realize a host of key public-health objectives. They are centered on developing evidence-based policies and strategies, enhancing scientific research, documenting the national expertise having to do with all aspects of gathering management, partaking in stimulating the societal contribution, and creating a unified health information system for better management of the mass gathering health.
GCMGM has managed to accomplish a multitude of achievements. It has launched Stage 1 of its early warning system. It is a crucial alarming tool that alerts against potential public-health risks. The information and statistics collected by this tool from multiple sources are then processed to be employed during the Hajj seasons. The Center has also developed a system for assessing the availability and readiness of services. The system, which has been successfully launched and applied, aims at documenting the availability of health services, and their development over the successive Hajj seasons. By doing so, the system comes up with evidence-based outcomes for the future planning of services, in a manner commensurate with the Saudi Vision 2030. Another tool created by GCMGM is Jeddah Tool. It was designed to provide strategic assessments of public-health risks at large agglomerations and mass gatherings.
Added to that, GCMGM has recently introduced ‘Salem Tool’. It is a Saudi tool based on international standards, meant to assess health risks at mass gatherings and provide guidance for the provision of operational medical services. Noteworthy, GCMGM has published over 40 papers in international scientific magazines. Besides, mass gathering medicine training courses have been organized on such topics as public-health risk management and dealing with heat strokes. Furthermore, it participates with specific research papers in the field of heat-related illnesses (such as sunstrokes) and has developed a national guide to dealing with them.