TIMES JAZIRAH, MADINAH – The government, through the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), is not only preparing curative and rehabilitative health services but also intensifying promotive and preventive efforts among pilgrims. This was shown by their effort to educate the pilgrim about the pilgrim well-being through Health Team. 

One of the ways to achieve this program is by directly visiting hotels where Indonesian pilgrims stay and educate them about the importance of taking care of their own health. They do a small workshop in the hotel and let them know how to treat their well-being during hajj. 

Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health, explained that the Promkes team is implementing several strategies. Those includes health promotion, early detection, and specific protection.

"This education aims to provide pilgrims with health-related information, enabling them to know, willing, and be capable of adopting a healthy lifestyle and maintaining their health while in Saudi Arabia," he said on Sunday (28/5/2023).

In addition to this program, they also provides specific protection to pilgrims, such as distributing masks, footwear, and dates. These educational and protective activities can also take place in areas surrounding places of worship, such as the courtyards of the Al-Haram Mosque.

The Promkes team also conducts early diagnosis, such as measuring blood pressure and performing random blood sugar tests, as well as providing oral rehydration solution (ORS) to prevent dehydration among Hajj pilgrims.

"The second strategy is to advocate other stakeholders by providing education related to physical activity restrictions and limitations in performing hajj routine or prays, especially for the 50 pilgrims with severe health issues," he added.

The target audience for this education includes sector leaders, group leaders for Hajj and Umrah, and team leaders. This education also serves as a means of coordination involving regional leaders and health officials responsible for the respective areas.

"The hope is that pilgrims will have the knowledge, willingness, and ability to maintain their health. If they are in good condition, they will be able to do hajj routine completely," Kunta expressed .

While educate the pilgrim the team also stated that pilgrims can anticipate health risks commonly encountered while doing thier hajj routine. The common issue face such as dizziness from the hot weather, increased physical activity, increased crowd density, and limited public facilities such as elevators, beds, and toilets.

Furthermore, the pilgrims are also provided with health information regarding diseases that often affect them during hajj, including the causes of death and prevention methods, in line with the tagline of the 2023 Health team, "Caring the Senior with Heart". (*)