Top-quality medical services for UAE pilgrims

“Our medical services unit is like a beehive and its main task is to ensure a disease-free pilgrimage for pilgrims from the UAE,” said Dr Abdul Kareem Al Zarouni, Deputy Head of the UAE Haj Mission for Medical Services Affairs.

Dr Al Zarouni indicated that the Ministry of Health had rolled out a clearly defined strategy to spread awareness among pilgrims and to provide comprehensive and top quality healthcare services to them.

“So far, around 250 pilgrims visited our clinics, complaining of cold, flu, muscle pain and some chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis and hypertension.”

According to Dr Al Zarouni, a 54-member medical team, comprising certified and highly qualified physicians, nurses, pharmacists and administrative staff, arrived earlier in the holy cities of Makkah and Madina and started attending to the pilgrims’ needs, preventing
them from epidemic and infectious diseases and offering necessary treatment.

“On the directives of Health Minister Dr Hanif Hassan, we are currently implementing a preventive and curative programme covering all the 6,000 plus pilgrims from the UAE,” he noted.

The programme entails regular field visits by the medical teams to the pilgrims’ camps, ensuring that every pilgrim is issued a medical card. The teams also ensure that all ambulances belonging to Haj operators are equipped with the necessary instruments.

“Technically speaking, the doctors are tasked with confirming all pilgrims and members of the mission have been immunised against cerebral fever and to verify the medical information shown in the medical cards of each pilgrim,”
Dr Al Zarouni said, adding that after each rite is performed, doctors step in to see into it that people with chronic conditions have not been affected.

“They (the pilgrims) have to report to the mission and take necessary medicines for chronic conditions. They are also offered special food and are continuously told about the importance of prevention, personal hygiene and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.” —