The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Wednesday advised Nigerian pilgrims already in Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in need of medical attention to visit any Saudi general or specialist hospitals.
This, according to the medical committee of the Commission, was because the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health was yet to grant all countries participating in this year’s Hajj permission to start running their own clinics in Makkah.
“The Medical Committee under the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) wishes to advise pilgrims who have arrived in Makkah to seek medical assistance from any of the Saudi Arabian general or specialist hospitals nearest to them.
“This advice has become necessary because the Saudi Arabian Health Ministry has yet to grant any Hajj-participating country permission to start running clinics in Makkah.
“Any pilgrim having difficulty locating such hospitals is advised to contact any of our National Medical Team members (NMT) as soon as possible,” the medical committee stated.
It, however, assured that all NAHCON clinics in Makkah are fully staffed and equipped, adding that they are only waiting for the Saudi authorities’ approval to commence full-fledged 24/7 operations.
According to the medical committee, “All NAHCON clinics in Makkah are fully staffed and equipped, awaiting approval from the Saudi Government (Makkah MoH).
“Hence, as soon as the host country grants authorization, the clinics will start running 24/7 in their normal tradition.”
It then advised the pilgrims to shun self-medication, stating that “in the meantime, all pilgrims are advised to shun self-medication, please.”
The head of the NAHCON National Medical Team (NMT) for this year’s Hajj, Dr Abubakar Adamu Ismail, informed journalists on Tuesday, at an interactive session with Nigerian journalists, that unlike what was obtained in Madina, the Saudi authorities had yet to give full clinical approval for any country in Makkah.
According to him, there had never been this level of complexity in registering Nigerian clinics in Saudi Arabia before now.
“The Saudi Ministry of Health has not really given official approval for full clinical care activities for all countries. All countries as far as Makkah is concerned.
“Madina, they have; they have given us already and other countries too. But in Makkah, not one single country has been issued approval for clinical care.
“There has never been this level of complexity in registering our clinic in history. Thankfully, we have done all these stages; we are just awaiting the response of the Saudi Ministry of Health,” Dr Ismail, who is also a senior technical assistant to the Minister of Health, Professor Ali Pate, said.
He further informed us that though the Saudi authorities had yet to grant approval for clinical care, they had made available the ambulances of the Saudi Red Crescent to support those the Nigerian team already had.
He said that there had been constant communication and synergy between the federal and state governments in Saudi Arabia.
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