Arab Health Ministers Impose Age Limits on Hajj to Limit Flu

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Arab Health Ministers Impose Age Limits on Hajj to Limit Flu

Arab health ministers, meeting in Cairo, have agreed to impose restrictions on this year's Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in a bid to control the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus. The ministers are forbidding those under age 12 and over age 65 from participating.

Growing fears of a flu epidemic across the Arab world is prompting Arab health ministers to restrict participation in this year's annual Hajj.

After an urgent meeting in Cairo, more than a dozen Arab health ministers agreed to prevent young and elderly Hajj candidates, as well as those with health problems, from traveling to Saudi Arabia for the annual event.

Saudi Arabia, which hosts the Hajj and grants visas to participants, first recommended restricting participation last month. The kingdom has had a number of H1N1 flu cases, and fears of a health crisis during the Hajj were behind the move.

Saudi Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabeeah urged the Arab press to inform the public about the decision to limit Hajj participation and noted that his country was increasing the number of flu shots on hand to control an eventual outbreak.

The Saudi Kingdom, he argues, is working to protect the health of pilgrims. He says the recommendations on restricting Hajj participants have been approved and will be put into action, and hopefully, they will guarantee the safety of all those who want to perform their pilgrimage.

The Eastern Mediterranean regional director of the World Health Organization, Hussein Gezairi pointed out the recommendations of the health ministers would be enforced and that no visas would be granted unless Hajj candidates met all requirements.

He says organizational procedures were devised based on the categories that have been determined by the Saudi health minister. Centers to approve visa candidates will be set up, registered, and equipped under the Health Ministry to prevent anyone from obtaining visa documents that are not correctly approved.

Yemeni Health Minister Abdul Karim Rasae, who chaired the conference, said the decision to prevent vulnerable people from attending this year's Hajj was debated long and hard before being approved.

He says all the ministers profited from their discussions and the decisions that were arrived at stemmed from their debate and had not been cooked up in advance.

The Saudi government has the power to grant or deny visas according to its own discretion, and the Saudis indicated last month that participation in this year's Hajj should be restricted.

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Re: Arab Health Ministers Impose Age Limits on Hajj to Limit Flu

Saudis scramble to stop Hajj swine flu crisis

updated 5:21 a.m. EDT, Wed July 29, 2009

(CNN) -- Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation into its first fatality from the H1N1 Virus as it tries to head off a swine flu epidemic before millions descend for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, health officials said.

The patient -- a 30-year-old man who lived in the country's Eastern Province -- was admitted to a hospital in the city of Dammam last week. He died Saturday.

The man had never traveled outside the country and had no communicable diseases, said Saudi Ministry of Health spokesman Khalid Al-Marghalani.

"There were odd circumstances about him contracting the disease. We want to find out more information about his case," Al-Marghalani added.

A committee had been formed to determine how the patient was treated and the "direct reason leading to his death," according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, citing the health ministry.

Saudi Arabia has diagnosed more than 230 cases of the H1N1 virus this year and is bracing for more.

The country has enacted a national plan to combat a pandemic, and the plan "states clearly the steps to be followed to trace any suspect or disease contractor," according to the health ministry.

In the past few weeks, a debate about the virus has erupted in the Middle East. Of particular concern is how to keep it from spreading among the millions of visitors expected in Saudi Arabia during this year's Hajj -- a pilgrimage required of Muslims at least once in their lives.

Last week, Arab health ministers held an emergency summit in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss the issue. Guidelines were issued, banning various groups from participating in this year's Hajj -- children under 12, adults over 65 and people with chronic diseases. Saudi Arabia recommended that pregnant women stay home as well.

At the close of the meeting, Saudi Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah told CNN that, in all, Saudi Arabia had issued 15 recommendations to help ensure the safety and health of pilgrims participating in the Hajj.

"The most important of those is, first of all, that they should take the seasonal flu vaccine two weeks prior to Hajj," Al-Rabeeah said.

Even with the guidelines in place, World Health Organization spokesman Dr. Ebrahim el Khordany acknowledged that it won't be easy keeping potential pilgrims away.

El Khordany told CNN, "It was discussed in detail how it's going to be worked out between the country and Saudi Arabia to find out the best way to do it and, of course, to make sure that people don't try to use their connections to get their visas or to get to go to Saudi, because people are really very keen to go to the pilgrimage."

The Saudi government has also said it will set up quarantine centers at airports as a prevention measure.