The annual Hajj pilgrimage—minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines
Mass gatherings at religious events can pose major public health challenges, particularly the transmission of infectious diseases. Every year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) hosts the Hajj pilgrimage, the largest gathering held on an annual basis where over 2 million people come to KSA from over 1...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2016-06-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971216310979 |
| _version_ | 1811255622414368768 |
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| author | Shuja Shafi Osman Dar Mishal Khan Minal Khan Esam I. Azhar Brian McCloskey Alimuddin Zumla Eskild Petersen |
| author_facet | Shuja Shafi Osman Dar Mishal Khan Minal Khan Esam I. Azhar Brian McCloskey Alimuddin Zumla Eskild Petersen |
| author_sort | Shuja Shafi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mass gatherings at religious events can pose major public health challenges, particularly the transmission of infectious diseases. Every year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) hosts the Hajj pilgrimage, the largest gathering held on an annual basis where over 2 million people come to KSA from over 180 countries. Living together in crowded conditions exposes the pilgrims and the local population to a range infectious diseases. Respiratory and gastrointestinal tract bacterial and viral infections can spread rapidly and affect attendees of mass gatherings. Lethal infectious disease outbreaks were common during Hajj in the 19th and 20th centuries although they have now been controlled to a great extent by the huge investments made by the KSA into public health prevention and surveillance programs. The KSA provides regular updated Hajj travel advice and health regulations through international public health agencies such as the WHO, Public Health England, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Hajj travel agencies. During the Hajj, an additional 25 000 health workers are deployed; there are eight hospitals in Makkah and Mina complete with state-of-the-art surgical wards and intensive care units made specifically available for pilgrims. All medical facilities offer high quality of care, and services are offered free to Hajj pilgrims to ensure the risks of ill health to all pilgrims and KSA residents are minimal. A summary of the key health issues that arise in pilgrims from Europe during Hajj and of the KSA Hajj guidelines, together with other factors that may play a role in reducing the risks to pilgrims and to wider global health security, is provided herein. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T17:26:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c575ba92457c4eb18c22eda9ebe29c69 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1201-9712 1878-3511 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T17:26:43Z |
| publishDate | 2016-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-c575ba92457c4eb18c22eda9ebe29c692022-12-22T03:23:17ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Infectious Diseases1201-97121878-35112016-06-0147C798210.1016/j.ijid.2016.06.013The annual Hajj pilgrimage—minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelinesShuja Shafi0Osman Dar1Mishal Khan2Minal Khan3Esam I. Azhar4Brian McCloskey5Alimuddin Zumla6Eskild Petersen7Muslim Council of Great Britain, London, UKPublic Health England, London, UKLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKImperial College London, London, UKSpecial Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, and Medical Laboratory Technology Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaGlobal Health Department, Public Health England, London, UKDivision of Infection and Immunity, University College London, and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UKInstitute of Clinical Medicine, University of Aarhus, DenmarkMass gatherings at religious events can pose major public health challenges, particularly the transmission of infectious diseases. Every year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) hosts the Hajj pilgrimage, the largest gathering held on an annual basis where over 2 million people come to KSA from over 180 countries. Living together in crowded conditions exposes the pilgrims and the local population to a range infectious diseases. Respiratory and gastrointestinal tract bacterial and viral infections can spread rapidly and affect attendees of mass gatherings. Lethal infectious disease outbreaks were common during Hajj in the 19th and 20th centuries although they have now been controlled to a great extent by the huge investments made by the KSA into public health prevention and surveillance programs. The KSA provides regular updated Hajj travel advice and health regulations through international public health agencies such as the WHO, Public Health England, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Hajj travel agencies. During the Hajj, an additional 25 000 health workers are deployed; there are eight hospitals in Makkah and Mina complete with state-of-the-art surgical wards and intensive care units made specifically available for pilgrims. All medical facilities offer high quality of care, and services are offered free to Hajj pilgrims to ensure the risks of ill health to all pilgrims and KSA residents are minimal. A summary of the key health issues that arise in pilgrims from Europe during Hajj and of the KSA Hajj guidelines, together with other factors that may play a role in reducing the risks to pilgrims and to wider global health security, is provided herein.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971216310979Mass agtheringHajjpublic healthprevention |
| spellingShingle | Shuja Shafi Osman Dar Mishal Khan Minal Khan Esam I. Azhar Brian McCloskey Alimuddin Zumla Eskild Petersen The annual Hajj pilgrimage—minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines International Journal of Infectious Diseases Mass agthering Hajj public health prevention |
| title | The annual Hajj pilgrimage—minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines |
| title_full | The annual Hajj pilgrimage—minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines |
| title_fullStr | The annual Hajj pilgrimage—minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines |
| title_full_unstemmed | The annual Hajj pilgrimage—minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines |
| title_short | The annual Hajj pilgrimage—minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines |
| title_sort | annual hajj pilgrimage minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines |
| topic | Mass agthering Hajj public health prevention |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971216310979 |
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