Jeddah: India is one of the major countries in the world, where elderly people come for Haj among most of them having chronic disease, an addition to heat exhaustion after landing in high temperature Arabian land. Looking after the health care of pilgrims is one of the major tasks for the Indian Haj mission in Saudi Arabia. Providing medical care for 1.75 lakh Indian pilgrims abroad is not an easy task.
Saudi Arabia provides the best medical care to all pilgrims yet the Indian contingent prefers to have their Desi Doctor sitting under the Indian tricolor flagged building, Indian Haj mission, where doctors effectively engage with patients. The Indian doctors, deputed on Haj duty from home, heals patients more than medicine.
The Indian Haj Mission operated by the Indian consulate in collaboration with the ministry of minority affairs in Jeddah has established 4 inpatient medical centers with each 25 beds to provide healthcare for Indian pilgrims besides 13 dispensaries that function round the clock in Makkah.
The Indian Haj Mission has rendered medical care to 1,69,323 patients in OPD and 1078 patients in IPD in the last one month, said Mohammed Shahid Alam, Indian Consul General.
The female pilgrims, a single woman without mehram, an initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attract special care since there is no male accompanying person with them unlike others, also being provided special medical care by the Indian Consulate. A 20-bedded medical center is being operated for these women pilgrims.
There were 13,973 medical consultations in OPD and 125 Inpatient (IPD) among female pilgrims in the last one month, he added.
Some pilgrims who are in a high risk group for whom the Indian medical team visited their accommodations to check their health condition. 23,561 home visits made by the medical team besides attending emergency calls, according to consul general.
17 ambulances attended 12,755 cases while mobile medical teams treated 27,342 patients during the period. It also conducted 16,878 minor procedures to visiting pilgrims.
Significantly, 74 sick pilgrims were facilitated by a medical team at Wakuf Arafah, Haj Day, that enabled ailing to fulfill their life dream.
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