In its quest for ensuring the health and safety of pilgrims, and providing best-quality health services of all types (preventive, curative and ambulatory) throughout the health facilities spread across the Kingdom's regions, the Holy Sites and Madinah, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is sparing no effort in taking all the necessary procedures and precautions.
Ministry Motto:
The Ministry of Health, by applying its plan, seeks to put into effect the motto: “Pilgrims' health is our concern.” In this spirit, it aims to provide distinguished, pioneering health services, through a clear-cut strategy, in a manner that ensures the pilgrims' health and safety, and having a Hajj season that is free from all infectious diseases.
Manpower Participating in the Implementation of the MOH Plan:
First: from the MOH:
- 22.500 health workers, from all the medical, technical and administrative categories, have been designated for participation in the manpower program of this year's Hajj season.
Second: Scouts' Participation
- 319 scouts contribute to the provision of supportive services at health facilities (223 in Makkah and 96 in Madinah).
Therapeutic Services:
A) Hospitals:
- 25 hospitals (4 in Arafat, 4 in Mina, 7 in Makkah, 9 in Madinah, in addition to Kind Abdullah Medical City – KAMC). These hospitals accommodate as many hospitalization beds as 5.250 (4200 beds for the various sections, 500 IC beds and 550 emergency beds).
B) Health Centers:
- 141 health permanent and seasonal health centers disseminated to the Hajj sites as follows: 43 health centers in Makkah, 80 at the Holy Sites (46 health centers in Arafat, 6 at the Muzdalifah Pedestrian Walkway, and 28 in Mina), in addition to 15 health centers in Madinah.
- 17 health centers for emergency cases overlooking the Jamaraat Bridge.
C) Specialist Medical Services:
- Expansion of the Cardiac Catheterization Program and cardiac surgery at King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah and the Hajj Sites' hospitals.
- Development and improvement of the health services provided at ICUs at the Hajj Sites' hospitals.
- Supplying all the Holy Sites' hospitals with digestive endoscopy.
- Supplying the Holy Sites' hospitals with dialysis devices.
Field Medicine and Emergency Services:
- Providing 80 big ambulances, and 95 small ones for field medicine, staffed with 105 physicians and 242 nurses.
- Resuming work at the al-Me'eisam Emergency Complex to collect the deaths caused by disasters.
- 50 small ambulances have been added this year to enhance the field medicine services at overcrowded places.
- Providing health facilities with airstrips for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) to transfer patients during the Hajj season to these hospitals: Heraa, al-Noor, Arafat, Mina Emergency, and King Abdullah Medical City.
Laboratories and Blood Banks:
- Setting the Virus Lab at Jeddah Regional Laboratory to work around the clock.
- Providing 16.000 units of blood and blood products of all blood groups.
Medical Convoy:
- Preparing a medical convoy to take the patients hospitalized at the hospitals of Makkah and Madinah to Mount Arafat, accompanied with a full-fledged medical team. No less than 400 pilgrims benefit from the service each year.
Health Awareness:
- The Consultant Physicians Service, at the toll-free number: 8002494444.
- Health education via social media by a constellation of physicians and consultants.
- Providing health awareness materials for pilgrims in ten living languages at the entry portals and Hajj Sites.
Utilization of Modern Technology:
- This year, a sum of SR 10 million has been allocated for high-tech equipment at all health facilities of the Holy Sites.
Statistics of the Last Year's Hajj Season (1433H):
- 362.740 pilgrims were received by MOH facilities.
- 463 pilgrims underwent cardiac catheterization surgeries.
- 35 pilgrims underwent open-heart surgeries.
- 2.024 pilgrims underwent dialysis.
- 443 pilgrims hospitalized at the hospitals of Makkah and Madinah were taken to the Holy Sites to get their Hajj completes.