Minister Of Religion Yaqut Schedules To Meet Saudi Minister To Discuss Hospital Services For Pilgrims Candidates For Hajj

MEKKAH - Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas scheduled a meeting with the Minister of Hajj and Umrah Affairs of Saudi Arabia to discuss hospital services for Indonesian pilgrims.

"We'll talk later, because the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah was previously the Saudi Minister of Health, so it's better to talk later. This is input for talking but not in my capacity to comment on Saudi hospitals," said the Minister of Religion in Mecca as reported by Antara, Tuesday, July 5.

Previously in a coordination meeting for the implementation of the Hajj 1443 H/2022 AD with the Hajj supervisory team and Amirul Hajj, Head of the Hajj Health Center Budi Sylvana expressed the hope that sick pilgrims would be treated by Indonesian doctors at the Indonesian Hajj Health Office (KKHI).

The reason is that the congregation felt uncomfortable when referred and had to be treated in a Saudi Arabian hospital due to language barriers and poor service.

"There are congregations that we refer to have decreased consciousness but the officers are not alert. We have protested but this is the Saudi authority," Budi said at the meeting.

Therefore, after being evaluated this year, all life-saving cases will be carried out at KKHI.

"We will send complete doctors from the country. We have also started performing operations. This is only the hope of the congregation," he said.

Regarding health, currently as many as 100 patients are being treated at KKHI Mecca and 24 people are referred to the Saudi Arabian Hospital. Most of the pilgrims who were treated were related to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dehydration.

Meanwhile, a total of 22 hajj candidates have died so far, on average, due to cardiovascular disease.