By Imam Imam
About 60 Nigerian pilgrims were hospitalised in Saudi Arabia Tuesday after an outbreak of gastroenteritis during their stay in Mina, the country’s health officials have confirmed.
They said the outbreak occurred following suspected intake of poorly cooked meat as part of activities marking the eid celebration.
Similarly, Saudi Arabian authorities have declared this year’s hajj totally free from infectious diseases or any case that required quarantining.
Speaking in Mina, Health Minister, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, attributed this achievement to a series of initiatives taken by the ministry.
Nigerian officials said the earlier fear that there was an outbreak of cholera in the camp of some states was unfounded and not true, adding that when some pilgrims complained of visiting the toilets in unusual manner, health officials attached to them promptly dispensed the necessary drugs and the situation was contained quickly.
One of the officials who spoke to journalists, Dr. Ibrahim Adamu, said it was normal for people to experience such unease after the intake of poorly cooked meat.
He however said 60 women were given routine medication and the situation had been brought under control.
In Mina, the Saudi Arabian Health Minister said: “The precautionary and preventive measures taken by the ministry led to pilgrims being safeguarded from all kinds of infections.”
The first step taken by the ministry to guarantee an infection-free pilgrimage was to make it binding for all pilgrims coming from foreign countries to follow the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) specifications for travellers from one country to another.
Another key step was the ministry’s rigorous watch at all entry points into the Kingdom to detect if any incoming pilgrim was carrying symptoms of infections and to take immediate action if any suspicious case was found, the minister said.
“Preventive doses against meningitis were given to 365,777 pilgrims, oral polio vaccines to 532,400 pilgrims and yellow fever vaccines to 200,000 pilgrims at various entry points to the Kingdom,” the minister said.
The field health teams of the ministry handled 3,500 cases of sick pilgrims without sending them to hospital, the minister said, while enumerating the accomplishments of his ministry during the Hajj.
“The ministry’s hospitals conducted 470 specialized heart catheterisations, 20 open heart surgeries to pilgrims in addition to a number of patients waiting to undergo the surgery in the next two days. The hospitals also conducted 886 kidney dialyses and 179 endoscopies,” the minister said.
He put the number of pilgrims who visited health centres in Mecca and Medina at 421,760 and those who visited outpatient clinics in Mecca and the holy sites at 88,635.
“These achievements attest to the Ministry of Health’s capability to offer high quality services to pilgrims,” the minister said.
Al-Rabeeah also considered it a great achievement that the ministry took 415 inpatient pilgrims from hospitals in Mecca and Medina in specially equipped coaches and ambulances to perform the rites of Hajj.
He added that the ministry could offer quality services to pilgrims with the help of advanced technology, including a special computer-controlled system and geographical positioning.
The ministry also has an instant information system that supplies to field workers information about the locations of the ambulances.
The systems also enable remote consulting and video viewing of emergency wards in hospitals. It also enables the media and top officials to observe the medical services offered to pilgrims.
The ministry will hold a meeting of all health committees to analyse the positive and negative aspects of its plans and activities, he said.
A WHO director for combating infections, Dr. Jawad Al-Mahjour, has also been monitoring the services offered by the ministry to pilgrims, especially the excellent care of sick Hajjis and steps taken to detect and combat diseases.
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