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Vaccination against meningitis is now a must for Haj pilgrims

DUBAI — Vaccination for meningitis for people proceeding for Haj from the UAE has been made mandatory by the Government of Saudi Arabia.

Announcing the main health stipulations issued by Saudi Arabia for the Haj season 2005-2006, Dr Mahmoud Fikri, Assistant Under-Secretary for Preventive Medicine at the Ministry of Health, said: "The two existing cards, giving medical history of the pilgrims, have been upgraded by the MoH."

Earlier, a meeting was held to discuss several issues with regard to preventive medicine.

He said that one of the cards should carry details of the medical history of the person going to perform Haj including his blood group while the other card, which is yellow in colour, should state that the person has been vaccinated against meningitis.

The vaccination for meningitis and a physical check-up would be free of charge and are held at district health centres all over the UAE. "The cards will be given to the pilgrims by the Haj tour operators. Each company will have a doctor and nurse who will fill the card with medical details of the pilgrim," he said.

He said that updates to announce that the UAE was malaria-free were also discussed at the meeting. A two-day workshop on how to avoid reactions to vaccines would be held from December 11 to 13 which will be attended by school health authorities and nursing departments in Dubai and Sharjah, he added.

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