By Rasheed Abubakar
Nigerian pilgrims with different health challenges thronged the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON medical centre at Nama Mawaddah, Makkah in their numbers to seek medical treatment.
“A ina asibiti yake”, meaning “where is the hospital?”, a Hausa-speaking pilgrim from Sokoto asked at the reception of the 15-storey building which also houses rooms for officials of the Commission and pilgrims from Sierra-Leone.
“Take a lift to the first floor”, said the clinic attendant who responded to the pilgrims, many of whom were accompanied by their fellow pilgrims to consult with the doctors.
The expansive first floor is one of the several facilities created by the national medical team for the Hajj 2022 operations for the well-being of the over 41,000 pilgrims that eventually made the ’emergency’ pilgrimage, the fifth and the last pillar of Islam.
Muslim News findings revealed that apart from this facility, there is another main clinic situated within Al-Hod Hotel in the Gishla area of Sharah Monsur and four outposts in Makkah, which attend to the medical needs of about 500 to 600 patients per day.
Besides, in Madinah, NAHCON had three clinics, each with the capacity to attend to the health challenges of over 250 patients per day; all before Arafat Day on July 9.
From Mina to Arafat including Muzdalifah and Jamrah, pilgrims experienced extremely hot temperatures ranging from 45 to 50 Degrees Celsius.
On Arafat, the day that marked the climax of the Hajj rites, for instance, the sun was at its peak, and the NAHCON chairman, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan swiftly advised the Nigerian contingents to engage in Ibadah (worship) in their tents rather than under the sun at the plain of Arafat.
Yet, many pilgrims defied the advice and undertook the journey to Mount Arafat under the blazing sun. Not leaving the situation to chance, the well-equipped medical team had in place alternative safety measures for pilgrims from Nigeria through an arrangement tagged: “Caravan Health System” and the “Emergency Response Service”.
These were meant to take care of the pilgrims right from the time they moved to Mina until the rites of Hajj were completed with the pelting of stones at Jamrah before they returned to their various hotels in Makkah.
A Caravan Health System is a deliberate medical service that makes provision for the presence of medical team among the pilgrims as they move from Makkah to Mina to Arafat, and back to Muzdalifah.
The pilgrims move under the eagle eyes of the medical team that are well-equipped to provide care for the contingent on the go.
Speaking with Muslim News, Dr. Usman Shuaibu Galadima, Chief of Operations and Head of the Medical Mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Hajj 2022, said;
“If you look at the Mina tents and the entire outlay, there were 17 service points representing each Mu’assasa. Each of the tents had clinics on standby to provide basic healthcare services to the pilgrims. We also provided four advanced life support ambulances for emergency response.
“The temperature was high and since our pilgrims were highly mobile; moving from one place to another, they get dehydrated, threatening their wellbeing, especially kidney health. So, we educated and encouraged them to stay within their tents to perform their Ibadah and if they must go out, they should use an umbrella (some organisations distributed umbrellas) or wait till the sun goes down. We also advised them to drink a lot of water to rehydrate their body,” he stressed.
Post-Arafah Day Stage
Medical personnel who spoke to our correspondents said though the number of patients who require medical attention reduced in the immediate post-Arafah day period, compared to the same period during the 2019 Hajj. Although, many pilgrims were still seen admitted to NAHCON medical centres across the city of Makkah.
We were reliably informed that at the Nama Mawaddah main clinic, no fewer than 500 to 600 pilgrims received treatment daily.
An on-the-spot observation conducted by this medium revealed different activities going on simultaneously on the first floor, which has different departments like the waiting room, registration unit, consulting rooms, pharmacy to the treatment room, medical data unit, male and female wards, among others.
Four nurses were on duty when we first visited the clinic on Monday, July 25. One of the nurses said they worked on eight hours shift.
“At every time or shift you come here, you will see four nurses on duty, three doctors, and two pharmacists as well,” she affirmed.
361 Medical personnel for Pilgrims’ needs
There are about 361 medical team drawn from different states of the Federation for this year’s Hajj. Muslim News can authoritatively confirm, that among them were 139 Doctors and 132 Nurses, 75 Pharmacists, and 14 Community workers.
10 members of the medical team were among the NAHCON advanced team that first arrived in the Holy Land on June 7, ahead of the first inaugural flight of pilgrims from Maiduguri, Northeast for the 2022 Hajj.
Muslim News gathered that other members of the advanced team included the national reception team, and accommodation and feeding committees.
Dr. Usman Shuai’bu Galadima confirmed the figure of the personnel, adding that no state is licenced to operate clinics during Hajj because the Saudi Ministryof health does not deal with sub-national entities.
“That is why the composition of the national medical team is in partnerships with states. The state contributed about 60% of the personnel we had at the National clinic. The clinics were situated within the clusters of Nigerian pilgrims. Usually, it is not more than 3 to 5 minutes walks to any of the clinic, therefore, increase in access to health care services offered by NAHCON.
“Total composition was originally 365 of the national medical team for Hajj 2022 but unfortunately four members couldn’t join us due to flight delays. The first team, 10 in number were in the advanced team that arrived on the 7th of June. Some had finished their work and returned home. Others will still be around until the end of the operations.
Most Common Illnesses
Muslim News findings revealed that the most common sickness among the pilgrims during the just concluded Hajj are the big five namely: upper respiratory tract infection i.e people with cough, sore throat, and so on; body pains, malaria, peptic ulcers disease and acute gaseous cholecystitis.
According to Dr. Galadima, “We also manage pilgrims with cases of hypertension, diabetes. We’ve also seen people that require urgent and serious surgeries including heart valve replacement and many others which we referred to several Saudi hospitals.
Explaining the cause of the common cold or flu which is prevalent among pilgrims even from other countries, the Head of the Medical Team said, “It’s mainly a viral infection and those kinds of viral infections are highly contagious because they are droplet infections which spread through coughing and anyone close to the infected persons can easily get infected.
“This is the same concern they had for COVID-19 because it is easily transmissible. That is why Hajj was suspended for two years. Even this year, the population was reduced to about 50% but most of what we attended to were not COVID-19.
“However, we’ve had only three confirmed cases of COVID-19 among pilgrims from Nigeria, they were all isolated and treated by the Saudi authorities.”
Adequate Treatment, Free Drugs
Pilgrims who visited any of NAHCON’s medical facilities received adequate and prompt treatments. Many of the them testified to the efficiency and effectiveness of the service delivery rendered by the medical team.
While some pilgrims with minor cases were given free drugs at the pharmacy after being attended to by doctors, others with critical issues were admitted.
Hajj 2022: Nigeria pilgrims consumed 602,478 drugs
About 602,478 drugs have been consumed by Nigerian pilgrims at #Hajj2022 between June 10 and July 31, #NAHCON medical records have revealed. Major drugs dispensed include antibiotics, analgesic, anti-ulcers, and PCM. pic.twitter.com/7MGsxhPWC9
— Muslim News Nigeria (@muslimnews_NG) July 31, 2022
Dr. Galadima said, “Those with critical conditions were admitted at observation rooms for a maximum of 48 hours. When they got better, we discharged them to their respective state accommodations. If they require further care, we refer them to any of the specialist hospitals within the Kingdom.”
The Head of Medical Mission to the Kingdom, however, said Nigerian pilgrims do not pay for the drugs at the point of care, noting that it’s part of their Hajj package.
“The treatment we give in our facilities is borne by Nigeria. It’s part of their package and they’ve paid for it. The treatment offered by Saudi authorities is borne by the Saudi authorities,” he noted.
Death of seven pilgrims
Despite the efficiency of the healthcare services offered by the team, seven Nigerians were confirmed dead as at the time of filling this report on Sunday, July 31. The deceased were all buried in the Holy land. Check their names HERE.
Dr. Galadima expressed sadness over their deaths and condoled with their families and friends back home in Nigeria.
He said that their deaths were painful, adding that the figure was below the number of deaths recorded in the 2019 Hajj, where no fewer than 14 Nigerian pilgrims died.
According to him, “At this time in 2019, we had lost about 14 pilgrims. Though painful, we thank God that we have so far not recorded a higher number of deaths compared to a similar period during the 2019 hajj. May Allah forgive all of their shortcomings and admit them to Al-Jannah Firdaus. Ameen”. Read more HERE
Hajj 2022, A Success
The medical team considered the 2022 Hajj operation a success despite being an emergency pilgrimage as described by the NAHCON chairman.
According to Dr. Galadima, It was indeed an emergency Hajj because at first, we did not know there would be Hajj until it was very close. The preparations had been quite tedious. We had delay in the beginning of the operation due to the late arrival of drugs but we praise Allah for His guidance and the team has been wonderful.
“Since then, we’ve not witnessed any out-of-stock. There have been constant drug supplies. About 602,478 drugs have been dispensed to pilgrims within four weeks, and we’re not stopping until the end of the exercise.
“We came here with a team of competent professionals who are temporarily registered with the Saudi ministry of health. The teamwork has been great and the support received from the NAHCON management, exemplary. Generally speaking, we are happy and grateful for the successful operation and handling of the 2022 Hajj,” he added.
