The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, Medical Team, has introduced first aid rooms in all the hotels accommodating Nigerian Pilgrims in Madinah to attend to minor illnesses of the pilgrims.
The recent additional innovation, is the introduction of a Caravan System of health delivery to the Pilgrims, this year, in the Mashaa’ir (religious sites) areas of Muna, Arafat and Muzdalifah.
In a statement, the Commissioner in charge of health matters of NAHCON, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, who sought for cooperation from all States Hajj authorities for the success of the initiative, said the Caravan Health delivery system, entails distribution of medical personnel to States, or to the zones of South-East and South-South, and ensuring that the medical personnel accompanied, in the same bus, the pilgrims of the States and or the two zones, during their movement from Makkah to the Mashaa’ir areas.
He, therefore, urged the heads of State pilgrims Boards and Agencies to provide space for makeshift clinics, for male and female pilgrims in their tents, saying for States with large number of Pilgrims, the like of Kaduna, Kano and Lagos, additional personnel would be provided if they made adequate provision for their deployment at their tents.
Dr. Ibrahim Kana further stated that the Chairman of the Commission, Barrister Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammad has approved the request for the supply of all necessary drugs, medical consumables and equipment, which will be delivered to the Medical Store on Monday or Tuesday for distribution to States that queued into the new initiative.
He also hoped that the States have abided by the suggestion that they recruited Environmental Health Workers to ensure cleanliness and maintain sanitation and hygiene within and without the tents in Muna.
The Commissioner said already the Commission has taken delivery of four new Mercedes Benz Ambulances, equipped with oxygen concentrators and other resuscitation gadgets for use during pilgrims stay at the religious sites, advising that States with ambulances are expected to queue them into the central ambulance system to serve all pilgrims under a single management structure.
Dr. Ibrahim Kana who said in the next couple of days Toll numbers would be provided, also advised that a mutual channel of communication be opened between all stakeholders on Hajj, for a stress and hitch free exercise.
