The Ministry of Health (MOH) has completed all the procedures and preparations to guarantee the safety of pilgrimage (Hajj) and pilgrims, and to present all the services to the pilgrims (preventive, curative, and ambulatory); all at the highest levels. This is through several health facilities spread in the Kingdom's regions, starting with the main portals of the Kingdom through the Hajj areas down to the Holy Sites and Medina, which were prepared and supported with all its needs at the various preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, ambulatory, and awareness-associated levels, in addition to the supervision and media aspects.
The Ministry's Motto:
Based upon its plan, the Ministry of Health aims at applying the motto: “Pilgrims' Health Is our Concern”. As such, those responsible for it attach their dedicated interest and their priorities for all the work related to providing pioneering, distinctive health services during the Hajj season, through a clear, phased strategy, according to the plan applied all year round at its various stages before the beginning of the Hajj season till its end. Therefore, this guarantees the pilgrims' safety and health and makes the Hajj season free from all infectious diseases.
Labor Force Participating in Implementing the MOH Plan:
First: MOH's Employees:
About 20.000 participants, in the Manpower Program from the various medical, technical, and administrative staff, have been tasked with implementing MOH's operational plan during 1433- Hajj season. Also, the Manpower Department has announced about 107 vacancies at Preventive Medicine Program to be equivalent to the program applied in Makkah.
Second: Visiting Labor Force (expatriates):
The Visiting Manpower Program has achieved a huge success during the last years. Speaking of this year, 320 participants in the labor force of rare specialties: physicians and technicians have been recruited to support the health facilities in the Holy Capital, Holy Sites, and Medinah as following:
115 consultants and specialists from within the Kingdom:
Intensive Care and Anesthesiology (14 consultants, 22 specialists, 8 housemen), Emergency (16 consultants, 31 specialists) Cardiology (13 heart and catheterization consultants, 11 specialists).
205 catheterization, psychotherapy, critical care nursing, and emergency technicians:
(40 catheterization, X-ray catheterization, and heart nursing technicians) (35 psychotherapy specialists and technicians) (130 intensive care and emergency nurses).
Third: Scouts' Participation:
(366) participants in presenting the supportive services of the work of health facilities (280 in the Makkh and Holy Sites, and 86 in Madinah).
Fourth: Voluntary work encouragement:
(30) female and male students of medicine colleges and health colleges have been encouraged and urged to participate and work in the Hajj season.
Preventive Services:
The Ministry works hard on applying the motto: “Prevention is better than cure”, through:
- Fully controlling the epidemiological status of the diseases.
- Following up the developments and variables which the global health status undergoes through the World Health Organization (WHO) and health international bodies.
- Applying all the necessary conditions to all those to perform the Hajj rituals.
- Applying Infection Control Program in the Holy Sites' hospitals to avoid any infection sources.
- Working on safe dumping of the medical waste in all the health facilities in the Hajj areas.
- Operating 15 health monitoring centers at all Saudi land, sea and air ports of in the labor force; and the equipment and vaccinations as a first defense line to apply the health conditions to all wanting to perform the Hajj rituals.
- Supporting the Preventive Medicine Program by 107 jobs to be equivalent to the Program applied in Makkah Region.
Curative Services:
The curative services are presented according to the Ministry's operational plan through the permanent and seasonal health facilities in the Hajj areas through:
- 25 hospitals (4 in Mount Arafat, 4 in Mina, 7 in the Holy City, 9 hospitals in Medinah, in addition to King Abdullah Medical City), and the number of clinical beds of Hajj areas' hospitals amounts to 5250 beds. (4200 hospitalization beds in the specialized sections, 500 IC beds, and 550 emergency beds)
- 141 permanent and seasonal health centers in the Hajj areas (43 health centers in the Makkah, 80 health centers in the Holy Sites areas (46 in Mount Arafat, 6 pedestrian walkway of Muzdalifah), 28 in Mina, and 12 health centers in Medinah.
As far as its operational plan is concerned, the Ministry concentrates on expanding its curative services in some specialties to reduce the mortality of some diseases, and providing the medical equipment and labor force necessary for dealing with most diseased cases, to reduce their referral to other hospitals.
- Expanding in heart catheterization program and heart surgery operations at King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah and Hajj areas' hospitals.
- Developing and improving the services presented in intensive care units in the Hajj areas' hospitals, using the modern technologies.
- Providing gastrointestinal endoscopy equipment in the hospitals of the Holy Sites to treat any case without referring it.
- Providing dialysis machines in the Holy Sites' hospitals; in order to deal with the patients in hospitals without the need to refer them.
Ambulatory and Emergency Services:
The Ministry participates with all those involved in the emergency work, in the following:
- Preparing and setting the health emergency plan, and reviewing the emergency plans at the health facilities of the Hajj areas.
- Dealing with the emergent cases and providing the medical services on the spot.
- Equipping the health facilities with helicopter landing pads (helipads) to transport emergency cases during the Hajj season.
- Operating the Emergency Complex in Al-Me'aisam to gather the death cases resulting from disasters.
- Operating 17 health centers in Al-Jamart Bridge in order to deal with ambulatory and emergency cases.
Field Medicine Services:
Providing 80 big ambulances to transport the patients among the health facilities in the Hajj areas; and 95 small ambulances in order to deal with the field illness cases. Each ambulance has been staffed with a physician and a nurse.
Medical Supply:
- The Ministry has worked on providing all the needs (medicines, medical supplies, etc.) for all the health facilities in the Hajj areas, as well as all the primary healthcare centers and hospitals.
- Setting a specific distribution plan for the health facilities in the Hajj area over the period from 1/11 to 7/12 of every Hijri year.
- Setting a plan for the daily and timely supply for all the items from the main warehouses in the Hajj areas, in addition to having all the primary centers and hospitals provided.
Laboratories and Blood Banks:
As far as its plan is concerned, the Ministry has focused on providing the diagnostic services. It has worked on:
- Providing all the laboratory equipment and the operating materials to conduct all the necessary laboratory analyses and examinations, which cause diseases.
- Applying Standard Sample Program to make sure of the validity and precision of the laboratory examination results in the health facilities of the Hajj areas.
- Operating the Virus Laboratory of Jeddah Regional Laboratory around the clock to conduct the laboratory examinations for all the viruses causing diseases; especially those transmitted from animals and birds to human beings.
- Providing (16.000) units of blood and blood products of all blood groups, to be used during the Hajj season.
- Designating main hospitals in some health affairs directorates in the regions to be a supportive strength during emergency cases to provide huge amounts of blood and blood products.
Command and Control Room:
Benefitting from the modern technologies and equipment in:
Modernizing and developing computing system and smart work program in all the health facilities in the Hajj areas to facilitate the process of monitoring, following up, and gathering the information, statistics, and reports.
Developing and modernizing the Command and Control Room of Mina Emergency Hospital, with the aim to follow up and monitor the workflow in all the health facilities in order for the officials to continuously follow up around the clock and take decisions easily and swiftly.
Providing wireless communication network, wide-scale and high speed, owned by the Ministry of Heath, which helps provide a continuous communication among the health facilities of the Hajj areas.
New Hospitals:
East Arafat Hospital has been added, with a capacity of 236 beds, 50 intensive care beds, and 30 emergency beds. And it is to present its services for the first time during this year's Hajj season.
Medical Convoy:
Every year, the Ministry prepares a medical convoy to have the hospitalized patients ascended to Arafat. And they are moved from the hospitals of Makkah, Mina, Madinah, and Jeddah, accompanied by an integrated medical crew. On average, 350 to 500 male and female pilgrims perform the Hajj rituals annually.
Media and Health Awareness Services:
The Ministry's plans focus on raising pilgrims' awareness before their arrival from their countries until their departure. Hence, health awareness programs are implemented for pilgrims in their countries including the health guidelines and conditions in (10) living global languages, along with focusing on the Hajj common diseases and means of protection against them. And they are to be delivered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to circulate them to the Kingdom's embassies and attaches in the states from which the pilgrims hail, to contribute to the exerted efforts in enlightening the pilgrims in their countries.
Moreover, the awareness efforts, during Hajj season, go on through all the health facilities of the Holy Sites, various means of transportation, pilgrims' agglomerations, and the camps. And this is through using diversity of awareness means (display screens, televisions, multi-lingual tapes, printed materials, bulletins, posters), in addition to the following activities and events:
- Launching health awareness campaign, under the motto: “Your health is the key to your pilgrimage”.
- Hosting a constellation of consultants and specialists via the toll-free telephone number in the Information and Health Awareness Center (8002494444).
- Using social networks: Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube, etc.
- Producing radio and television health awareness messages to be aired through the television and radio channels and websites.
- Launching a website entitled (the Pilgrims' Health) via the MOH's website on the internet.
- Attending early at the land, air, and sea ports to hand out health printed materials and awareness bulletins.