Ms. Fadila Sho'eib, the WHO Spokesperson, has stated that, during her three-day stay at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, she has been a witness to an ineffable level of efficiency and relatedness of the relevant authorities, in an effort to maintain pilgrims' safety and comfort since arrival till departure.
“The Saudi Ministry of Health offers health services that may exceed the capacity of a host of countries,” she said. “The Ministry has managed to carry its services, during this Hajj season, to perfection, thanks to the highly qualified calibers and high-tech medical equipment it has provided, in line with the world's state-of-the-art medical technologies. That is to be added to the giant hospitals designated for pilgrims during this Hajj season.”
For his part, the WHO Spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic, has lauded the Kingdom's efforts in providing healthcare services for pilgrims, meanwhile commending the strenuous efforts exerted by the Saudi Ministry of Health in this domain, in an endeavor to maintain a Hajj season free from infectious and epidemic diseases.
He said, “The enormous number of pilgrims the Kingdom receives every year constitutes a huge agglomeration of people hailing from over 140 countries; something which poses a serious health challenge to the Saudi health institutions; given they speak distinct languages, and behave differently.
Another challenge to be overcome is that pilgrims vary in their levels of health awareness, not to forget that a high proportion of pilgrims are older persons, and thus their susceptibility to infectious and noninfectious diseases has increased.
This segment of pilgrims is, accordingly, in need of special health care, which becomes particularly difficult amidst the huge agglomerations brought together in a limited scope of time and place.”
To conclude, Jasarevic said, “It is a relief to us that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provides health services for all pilgrims; something which distinguishes the Kingdom from any other country in the world.
And we are already aware that handling such a gigantic human agglomeration is anything but easy.”