Saudi health minister stresses preparedness for forthcoming hajj

Saudi Minister of Health Dr Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, confirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attaches great interest in the service extended by its various agencies to pilgrims, citing that his ministry will deploy more than 22,000 personnel and eight hospitals in Makkah, home to the House of God and Grand Mosque, and more than 150 primary health care centers and many hospitals and health centers in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Muslim’s second holiest place and home to the grave and mosque of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). Dr. Al-Rabeeah said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency SPA from Cairo where he is leading his country s delegation to the 59th Regional Committee for the WHO East of the Mediterranean Regional Bureau, that the new Corona virus stages no danger on Umra performers and pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, noting that there are no epidemic diseases in Hajj area this year. He quoted participants in the meeting as lauding health measures taken by the Kingdom for pilgrims and Saudi health authorities dealing ability with the health situation of pilgrims who sometimes exceed two million people. He said Saudi Arabia has presented several initiatives to the WHO regional meeting, including ways of getting rid of transference of AIDS from a pregnant mother to her baby, blindness combat, patterns of health life and contagious disease, and the concept of crowds medicine. He said most of those initiatives were accredited by the conference while others still under consideration.