10 September 2017 – Upon the kind invitation of His Excellency the Minister of Health of Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean deployed a team of experts headed by the WHO Representative in Saudi Arabia to oversee the public health preparedness for hajj 2017 (1438 H). The team comprised of epidemiologist and expert in disease control and was deployed to Mina and Arafat from 27 August to 4 September 2017 where nearly 2.4 million pilgrims assembled to perform hajj this year.
The WHO team worked collaboratively with the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia to ensure that the public health preparedness, readiness and mitigation measures for early detection and rapid response to any health threats amongst the pilgrims remain effective, responsive and appropriate for such mass gatherings settings. The team visited a number of health facilities in Mina and Arafat to oversee the health care provided to the pilgrims, including the system for surveillance, notification and detection of any public health threats among the pilgrims. The team also visited a number of camps to oversee the risk communication campaigns in various languages being disseminated among for health promotion and protection.
The WHO team acknowledged that appropriate public health mitigation measures were put in place by the Ministry of Health to ensure safe pilgrimage and also for early detection of any health threat in compliance with the requirements of International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). In order to ensure a safe pilgrimage for hajj 2017 (1438 H), the Regional Office, in collaboration with the WHO Collaborating Center for Mass Gathering based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, organized a consultative meeting in January 2017 where experts on mass gatherings deliberated on developing a tool for conducting public health risk assessment for the ensuing hajj. The findings of this assessment were used by the ministry of health to improve preparedness, readiness and mitigation measures to protect the health of the pilgrims and prevent international spread of any diseases of epidemic potentials associated with hajj.
At the end of the mission, Dr Ibrahim El Ziq, the WHO Country Representative for Saudi Arabia spoke on behalf of WHO in the press conference that was organized by the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia on the morning of 3 September to conclude the hajj 1437. The WHO team leader thanked the Ministry of Health for successfully concluding hajj free from any major public health event or outbreak. The WHO Regional Office would share the conclusions and recommendations of the mission with the Ministry of Health, noting the importance of documenting and sharing experiences and good practices for improving public health preparedness for future hajj seasons.
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Effective preparedness for hajj 2017 (1438 H) pays off: no major public health events reported
