Nigerian pilgrims board their flight to Saudi Arabia

Nigerian pilgrims board their flight to Saudi Arabia

 

2019 Hajj: Five Nigerian Pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia

 

National Hajj Commission of Nigeria on Tuesday confirmed the death of five Nigerian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

The Chairman of the National Medical Team, Ibrahim Kana, released the figure Tuesday in Madinah from the commission’s National Medical Team Electronic Health Medical Records.

“So far, Nigeria has lost five pilgrims including three females and two males; out of which one died in Madina while the remaining four died in the city of Makkah.

“They all died of various illnesses including heart and lung diseases.

“Records shows that so far in both Makkah and Madina, we have made 10, 485 diagnosis with Makkah accounting for over 60 per cent.

“Additionally, 108 referrals were made to various Saudi Arabian hospitals after keeping 45 pilgrims on observation for variety of illnesses in the four facilities in Madina and another five in Makkah.

“In order to ameliorate suffering of pilgrims, all the clinics are located within a stone throw to pilgrims’ accommodation in both Makkah and Madina,” he stated.

Over 150 million drugs had been consumed by Nigerian pilgrims at no cost to them, the record showed.

“The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria prepared a drug forecast for the entire operation, including drugs for HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, donated by the Federal Ministry of Health.

National Hajj Commission of Nigeria on Tuesday confirmed the death of five Nigerian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

The Chairman of the National Medical Team, Ibrahim Kana, released the figure Tuesday in Madinah from the commission’s National Medical Team Electronic Health Medical Records.

“So far, Nigeria has lost five pilgrims including three females and two males; out of which one died in Madina while the remaining four died in the city of Makkah.

“They all died of various illnesses including heart and lung diseases.

“Records shows that so far in both Makkah and Madina, we have made 10, 485 diagnosis with Makkah accounting for over 60 per cent.

“Additionally, 108 referrals were made to various Saudi Arabian hospitals after keeping 45 pilgrims on observation for variety of illnesses in the four facilities in Madina and another five in Makkah.

“In order to ameliorate suffering of pilgrims, all the clinics are located within a stone throw to pilgrims’ accommodation in both Makkah and Madina,” he stated.

Over 150 million drugs had been consumed by Nigerian pilgrims at no cost to them, the record showed.

“The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria prepared a drug forecast for the entire operation, including drugs for HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, donated by the Federal Ministry of Health.

“We appeal to pilgrims to eat healthy and not patronise illegal food vendors to prevent cases of gastroenteritis as a result of food poisoning.

“Similarly, pilgrims are strongly advised not to consume stale foods which get easily contaminated as a result of the high temperatures.”

He also advised pilgrims to attend the health centres opened for them, reminding them that they were free to make use of the free services and called on the health personnel to be cautious and humane to “the guests of Allah.”

Mr Kana said all the NAHCON clinics were fully computerised, “therefore, pilgrims with the habit of patronising clinics just to receive drugs would not be able to do that this time.” (NAN)

 

Editorial Chief, Nigerian Bureau

Kings UBA is a Nigerian journalist and writer. I have reported for major local and international news organisations. I write satire. In 2017, I started contributing stories primarily to Discover Africa News Network. I can be reached on editorkingsuba@gmail.com. I currently manage Discover Africa News social media handles