His Excellency the Egyptian Minister of Health, Dr. Mohammed Mustafa Hamed, commended the strenuous efforts made by the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, aiming at protecting pilgrims. “The Ministry provides excellent health care to pilgrims for free,” he said.
Dr. Hamed went on to say, “The health services provided by the Kingdom to pilgrims, thanks to the unstinting support and keen follow-up of the His Royal Highness King Abdullah, and His Excellency Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, have become a benchmark of which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is so proud.” He lauded the great service to pilgrims and the state-of-the-art technology adopted by the Ministry in the Command and Control Room equipped with displays in order to keep the status of health services under constant watch.
After the meeting with His Excellency the Saudi Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, at the latter’s office at Mina Emergency Hospital, the Egyptian Minister affirmed that he personally checked the Control Room and saw how efficient and credible it was. He said that he was glad to see this practice, and that Egypt was ready to take stock from the Saudi experience.
Hamed added, “I was particularly impressed by the convey of ambulances reaching out in an organized way to destinations, and to see all such advanced health services and health facilities set up at the Holy Places, not to mention the increase of ambulances dedicated to serve pilgrims. This evidently reflects attention paid by the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for pilgrims. So, I have no doubt all pilgrims will pray for His Royal Highness King Abdullah, for all the high-quality health services offered to them by their dear Saudi brothers.”
In the meantime, it didn't escape Dr. Hamed's notice to commend advanced technology adopted by Saudi Arabia. He said the Egyptian Ministry of Health is looking forward to making use of such impressive progress. He enumerated the fruits of the utilized technologies, especially the e-pen, that distributes information accurately, among many other advanced e-services.
Dr. Hamed took the opportunity to reassure Egyptians at home that the health condition of Egyptian pilgrims is very well. He mentioned that they started flocking to Arafat. “As we already know,” he added, “the number of Egyptian pilgrims is large. And we can say their general health condition is very well. The few deaths among Egyptians were attributed to natural causes, as they have been already diseased before coming to the Kingdom, but insisted on attending for Hajj notwithstanding. About 40 pilgrims undergo renal dialysis, and pilgrims, on the whole, visit MOH clinics for required treatment.”
As his statement drew to a close, His Excellency the Egyptian Minister thanked His Excellency the Saudi Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, and all the MOH employees, for all the services offered to pilgrims, praying for Allah to make their efforts success, and to reward them for such benevolent deeds.
For his part, His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Al-Rabeeah, said the meeting was cordial and brotherly, and issues of common interest were discussed. The discussions included the health cooperation between the two countries, especially on the level of exchange of experience, participation of Egyptian doctors in the Visiting Physician Program, utilizing Egyptian specialists in key specialties and setting up joint training programs.
Dr. Al-Rabeeah expressed gratitude for the positive comments made by the Egyptian Minister concerning the efforts of the Government of the Guardian of the Two Holy Mosques, and of the health services offered to pilgrims.