The Kingdom is set to benefit, especially in facilitating Haj for the pilgrims, from the expertise and strategies suggested by health officials at the International Mass Gathering Medicine Conference that ended in Jeddah on Monday.
The conference proposed the establishment of an international reference agency for mass gathering health with headquarters in the Kingdom.
Input from the conference will definitely play an important role in facilitating the Haj season 2010, said Dr. Khaled Al-Mirghalani, spokesman of the Ministry of Health, on the third and concluding day of the conference.
He said several strategies were discussed during the meet and some of them would be implemented to make Haj easier. What could prove beneficial were the suggestions on managing Haj during crisis, applying health regulations during mass gatherings and management of public health risk during Haj, he added.
“The event, attended by more than 500 experts in addition to 35 international speakers, highlighted the Kingdom’s role in ensuring safety and security of pilgrims and to protect their health,” said Dr. Ziad Al-Memish, assistant deputy minister of health for preventive medicine and head of the conference.
The conference adopted the Jeddah Declaration on Mass Gathering Health, the first regional and global declaration emphasizing the importance of providing holistic and safe health care services to beneficiaries, said Al-Memish.
Tangible benefits in terms of upgrading Mass Gathering Health worldwide is an outcome of the conference, Al-Memish said, emphasizing the need to establish an international reference authority competent with mass gathering health, which should be based in the Kingdom.
This authority would be commissioned with several tasks, such as classifying and defining the terminology, tasks and mission of mass gathering health, developing mass gathering health culture, programs and systems based on the coordinates and output of potential and established research, conducting in-depth analytical studies on all aspects of mass gathering health, and creating a database to study and monitor the present situation and to assess the extent of progress achieved in embedding this concept.
“The recommendations called for feedback and futuristic studies, and adopting measures to redress health systems on the national, regional and international levels, providing consultations and advice to various countries to develop mass gathering health plans and programs, exchanging successful experiences in the area of mass gathering health in cooperation with relevant international agencies and organizations,” Al-Memish said.
It also called for the necessity of developing plans for health awareness and information to educate people about mass gatherings during and after the event, taking into consideration the uniqueness of each gathering in terms of the location, preparations, cultures and timing.
Many experts emphasized the need to involve the civil society in health education and enlightenment of those involved in mass gatherings such as pilgrims and Haj guides. Al-Memish said the World Health Organization (WHO) would be asked to adopt the creation of a specialized awareness program on mass gathering health.
The Saudi Medical Specialties Authority will be in charge of developing an academic framework for the mass gathering health discipline encompassing all categories playing a part in serving mass gatherings medically, environmentally and health-wise, so mass medicine would be studied in colleges and universities.
The Saudi Ministry of Health, in coordination with WHO, will organize the event biannually. Awards, named after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, could be set up to honor distinguished practitioners and researchers in this new medical discipline.
Arab News