Seven open-heart surgeries have been conducted on pilgrims from different nationalities this year, according to Deputy Minister of Health for Planning and Development Muhammed Khushaim, speaking at a press conference on Sunday.
“We had to interfere this way to safe their lives, as we are in the Kingdom consider the life of every pilgrim very precious to us. And one of our top priorities is to minimize the mortality rate among pilgrims. Therefore, we never hesitate to conduct even heart surgeries to pilgrims when needed.”
Khushaim pointed out that the Ministry of Health has designated two hospitals in Makkah for major surgeries needed for pilgrims. The first is Noor hospital and the other is the giant medical complex, King Abdullah Medical City, which opened last year.
“In addition to those seven successful open-heart operations on pilgrims, were conducted 186 cardiac catheterizations on pilgrims suspected of heart attacks as well to determine wether there was a need for such heart operations,” Khushaim said. “Our dedication of 370 intensive-care beds of the 3,700 beds allocated for pilgrims this year show how much we care about them and consider any case of health disorder in any pilgrims as a emergency case that needs the maximum care.”
Khushaim said that for the purpose of maintaining the health of pilgrims, the Ministry of Health is in direct contact hourly with the epidemic surveillance and control department in World Health Organization and the Centers of Disease Control in Atlanta, USA.
“We are sharing with them the latest information about micro-organisms and any unknown viruses and bacteria detected in the samples taken from pilgrims. We are sending these samples for testing.”
Arab News