Saeed Al Khotani Saudi Gazette RIYADH — The Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah began on Sunday an inspection tour of the Haj-related healthcare facilities in the cities of Madinah, Jeddah and Makkah to ensure their readiness to serve pilgrims.
The minister on Sunday toured four primary care health centers around the Prophet's Mosque, and Plaza 2 Primary Healthcare Center at Prince Mohammed International Airport that was recently designated as a supporting facility for healthcare observation at the airport. He also toured 6 points for providing healthcare services at the airport. He visited a number of healthcare projects under construction in Madinah. They included two hospitals — the 300 beds Al Miqat Hospital and the 500 beds Specialist Hospital.
The Ministry of Health announced its readiness for this Haj season. The ministry has mobilized 22,500 healthcare workers, including physicians, nurses, medical technicians and administrative staff. Twenty-five hospitals have been designated as pilgrims serving facilities in Haj zones (Makkah, Madinah, and holy sites of Arafat, Muzdalifah, and Mina) with a total bed capacity of 5,250. These hospitals include 4 hospitals in Arafat, 4 in Mina, 7 in Makkah and 9 in Madinah, in addition to the giant healthcare facility in Makkah — the King Abdullah Medical City. The ministry has allocated 141 permanent and temporary primary healthcare centers in different parts of Haj zones. These centers are distributed as follows: 43 in Makkah, 16 in Madinah, 48 in Arafat, 6 in Muzdalifah, 28 in Mina, 17 in Jamarat Bridge in Mina. The MOH has made available 16,000 units of blood for immediate use, prepared Jeddah virus testing lab to work round-the-clock during Haj. Further 175 ambulances and their medical staff (105 physicians and 242 nurses) have been mobilized to respond to any emergency need in the field. The ministry said there will be an increase in certain specialized medical services for pilgrims. The services include conducting more cauterization, open-heart surgeries at KAMC in Makkah and other qualified hospitals for this kind of surgeries, improving further intensive care units and increasing dialysis services. The ministry's efforts come as part of their duty to serve the guests of Allah. This is in line with the Kingdom's directives to serve pilgrims with all available means to make their Haj experience as comfortable as possible.
