Saudi Arabia: Over 90 healthcare facilities fully equipped to serve Hajj pilgrims

Saudi authorities have fully equipped 93 healthcare centers across the holy sites in Mecca to provide pilgrims participating in the annual Hajj pilgrimage with quick and direct health services, Al Arabiya reported on Thursday.

The centers, which operate around the clock, include general clinics and offer various healthcare services to pilgrims, including to those who suffer from chronic illnesses.

According to the health ministry, 53,450 pilgrims benefitted from the services provided by hospitals and healthcare centers in Mecca from June 30 until July 7.

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The facilities performed eight open heart surgeries, 108 cardiac catheterization, 313 dialysis treatments, nine laparoscopic surgeries and 177 other surgeries.

In addition to these centers, the Saudi Red Crescent Authority deployed more than 347 healthcare practitioners in 37 centers to provide services to pilgrims in Mina on the day of Tarwiyah.

Earlier on Thursday, pilgrims headed for prayer in the city of Mina, roughly eight kilometers east of Mecca. Pilgrims are required to remain in Mina until sunrise on the second day of Hajj, when they leave to Arafat.

Hajj is considered the world’s largest religious gathering, with about 2.5 million people performing the ritual in 2019.

However, due to COVID-19, the Kingdom had sharply decreased the number of pilgrims allowed to perform the ritual.

This year, the Kingdom has allowed one million pilgrims from inside and outside the country to participate.

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