The Government Targets The Death Rate Of Hajj Pilgrims To Drop To 1 Per 1,000 People

Illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Head of the Health Ministry's Hajj Health Center (Kemenkes) Budi Sylviana said the government is targeting a reduction in the death rate of pilgrims to 1 per 1,000 people per year.

Over the past 15 years, Budi said the average death rate for pilgrims was about 2 per mile or 2 per 1,000 people. For example, from the quota of 220 thousand pilgrims, there are 300 to 400 pilgrims who die each year.

"The government is targeting to reduce the death rate for Hajj pilgrims to 1 per mil this year, or about 1 death per 1,000 pilgrims," Budi said in a written statement, Wednesday, May 18.

Budi said that the diseases that cause the highest deaths are cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. However, there is a main factor that causes the death of the congregation, namely fatigue.

For this reason, Budi asked Health workers to prioritize educational and promotive functions, especially for hajj pilgrims who already have comorbidities and are included as high-risk (risti) pilgrims.

“That way, their physical condition is maintained. So, hopefully the health conditions of the congregation can be maintained until they return to their homeland," said Budi. Furthermore, Budi explained that the hajj health workers had been provided with an operational plan (renops) for the 2022 hajj health administration to carry out their duties in the holy land.

Where, health workers are divided into seven teams consisting of surveillance teams, emergency medical teams, health promotion teams, airport mobile teams, sanitation and food security teams, logistics and health supplies teams, and the Indonesian Hajj Health Office team.

"Renops is a guide for officers in their work. Each team already has their respective duties, functions and responsibilities, and the interrelationships between work teams. So that the team can work more optimally in order to achieve the target of hajj health services," said Budi.

For information, Saudi Arabia has set a quota for Indonesia's Hajj in 2022 as many as 100,051 people. The quota consists of 92,825 quotas for regular pilgrims, 7,226 quotas for special pilgrims, and 1,901 quotas for officers. The first batch will depart on June 4, 2022 for Medina.