Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra on Friday released a document titled, “Medical Care Arrangements for Haj Pilgrimage”. The document has been brought out jointly by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Mr Mohammed Shahid Alam, Consulate General of India in Jeddah (who joined virtually), representatives of WHO, and other stakeholders were also present.

Haj represents the largest and most enduring annual mass gathering event globally. The responsibility for medical care arrangements lies with the Emergency Medical Relief Division and the International Health Division of the Directorate General of Health Services.

On the occasion, Mr Chandra stated that “this document lays the roadmap of the health services and how those services can be availed of by the pilgrims.” Noting that this is only the second year since the healthcare responsibilities have been assigned to the Union Health Ministry, he stated that “the experience has provided significant learnings for improving the healthcare services.

Around 1,20,000 pilgrims undertook the Haj pilgrimage this year from India, of which approximately 40,000 are elderly people above the age of 60. In view of the harsh weather conditions this year, the health challenges have necessitated round the clock services for the pilgrims. Last year, oral health and dental care services were added learning from the past experience”. The Union Health Secretary also added that nearly 2 lakh OPDs have been conducted this year, along with visits by the medical teams to the pilgrims.

Mr Chandra stated that with the help of NIC a live portal has been developed that provides real time data and analysis on the pilgrims seeking medical care and the services being provided.

“We are continuously monitoring and this will help us to improve our services significantly, such that we become the beacon of excellence to be emulated by other countries,” he added.

The Union Health Secretary said that “it is a matter of pride to be of assistance to our citizens wherever they might be. Be it for evacuating our students from Ukraine or assisting our people who got stuck in the fire incident in Kuwait, India has always been at the forefront in helping its citizens.” He stated that India has even helped citizens from other countries, including European countries who sought its help during the crisis.