RIYADH — The Saudi Ministry of Health has launched a massive health awareness campaign for this year’s Hajj under the slogan “Together for a Healthy Pilgrimage”. According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the campaign will educate the pilgrims on how to stay healthy during Hajj.
The ministry requires pilgrims to be vaccinated against a number of infectious diseases before arriving. These diseases include the yellow fever, meningitis, seasonal flu and small pox among other. The ministry has printed in 10 languages more than 500,000 stickers and pamphlets about the prevention and cure for infectious diseases.
The ministry has set up medical centers at all air, sea and land inlets to make sure that the pilgrims are vaccinated if they failed to get vaccinated at home. The ministry has also produced four documentaries with guidelines about sunstroke, heat exhaustion, food poisoning and others. The ministry has prepared four vehicles with large screens and placed about 80 plasma screens at health centers in the holy sites to spread awareness among pilgrims. It will also use social media and send more than 2 million SMS messages.
Dr. Bilal Philips