The Hajj and A/H1N1

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=123541&d=12&m=6&y=2009

Haj Ministry heightens swine flu watch
Galal Fakkar | Arab News


JEDDAH: Undersecretary at the Ministry of Haj Ali Balkhayr has said his ministry is carefully watching outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as swine flu, in various parts of the world.

The ministry is collaborating with the Ministry of Health to stop the entry of any pilgrim carrying dangerous infections, Balkhayr said.

?Umrah activities have never been disrupted by infectious diseases and none of the scheduled pilgrim trips have been canceled because of swine flu,? he added.

According to Saad Al-Qurashi, head of the National Committee for Haj and Umrah, no case of swine flu has been detected among Umrah pilgrims since the virus originated in Mexico two months ago.

?No pilgrim carrying infectious diseases is allowed to enter the Kingdom because the Saudi missions abroad insist on strict health precautions while issuing Umrah visas,? Al-Qurashi said.

The Health Ministry said a Saudi student who was diagnosed with swine flu left hospital on Wednesday ?in a good state of health.? The student, the second confirmed swine flu case in the Kingdom, arrived in Jeddah from Washington on Sunday and was then flown to Dammam where he underwent treatment.

The first case of swine flu in the Kingdom was reported on June 3. A Filipino nurse at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh was diagnosed with H1N1 infection about a week after she returned from vacation in the Philippines.

The precautionary measures taken by Saudi authorities at its land, sea and air entry points are very effective, Egyptian Consul General in Jeddah Ali Al-Ashiri said.

The consul general added that the preparations for the increased flow of Umrah pilgrims in the months of Rajab (June-July) and Ramadan (August-September) would include awareness campaigns to pilgrims about the symptoms of swine flu and precautionary measures including wearing masks at crowded places and adherence to health regulations laid down by the Saudi authorities.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and tour operators that organize Umrah trips will jointly organize the campaigns, he said. He said the Kingdom?s plan to counter the spread of swine flu during the pilgrimage seasons won the approval of World Health Organization.

?It is a known fact that the Kingdom employs effective programs to monitor and contain contagious diseases during the seasons of pilgrimage,? said Al-Ashiri. ?In the past the Kingdom successfully handled dangerous diseases, such as SARS and Rift Valley Fever,? said the diplomat.

He said Egypt has made health insurance coverage mandatory for all pilgrims so that they would not have any problem in getting treatment in Saudi hospitals.

He said the Egyptian Health Ministry was planning to open health registers for each pilgrim and all pilgrims would undergo health checkups before they leave for the holy cities.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: The Hajj and A/H1N1

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=177913&bolum=101

H1N1 flu epidemic threatens Muslim pilgrimage

While the World Health Organization (WHO) discusses whether to increase precautions over the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, the illness has led to another discussion for Muslims: The hajj, the pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city of Mecca, might be canceled this year due to fears over the spread of the virus

The WHO may want organized events that are attended by large numbers of people to be canceled as a precaution against swine flu. The events include international fairs, panel discussions and conferences as well as the Muslim hajj and umrah. The Turkish Ministry of Health has also confirmed that the hajj, which will take place in October this year, and umrah, a form of pilgrimage from Mecca to Medina, may be canceled this year.

"I don't know what this would mean from a theological point of view, but it is possible that the pilgrimage might be canceled this year, or at least some restrictions introduced," Undersecretary of Health Turan Buzgan said yesterday. If the threat of swine flu does not disappear, the Health Ministry will send a file covering the precautionary recommendations and the precaution package prepared by the WHO to the Hajj and Umrah Board of Turkey. If such a step is taken by the Health Ministry, the cancellation of the pilgrimages will come onto the agenda.

The Health Ministry has already asked the scientists of the General Directorate of Basic Health Services to prepare a report on the issue. The ministry will inform the Directorate of Religious Affairs after the report is completed. The directorate has already announced that they would abide by the decision of the ministry and that it would give the final decision after discussing the issue with the Supreme Board of Religious Affairs.

?In order for the hajj to be a religious duty, it must be totally safe. The safety of the road and health is also included. If the WHO announces that there is a serious threat of epidemic, the hajj is canceled for the year in question,? said Marmara University's theology department dean Saim Yeprem, who is also the head of the editorial board of the Directorate of Religious Affairs.

Meanwhile, the WHO asked the Saudi Arabian Hajj Ministry whether cancellation of the hajj would cause religious, social and economic damage if the flu cannot be brought under control by the hajj season in October. Saudi officials said they will try to take every possible precaution for the hajj so that it is not canceled.

In every hajj period, almost 3 million Muslims converge on Mecca. Thousands of people perform tawaf (circumambulation) at the Kaaba at the same time. It is feared that if precautions are not taken against swine flu, the disease can contaminate millions of people at the same time during the hajj.

Currently, people who travel to Saudi Arabia in order to perform umrah are informed in detail about swine flu. Apart from vaccination, precautions to prevent the disease are also told to prospective pilgrims and health teams accompanying pilgrims are strengthened.

13 June 2009, Saturday
TODAY'S ZAMAN İSTANBUL

 

[Shiloh]

Re: The Hajj and A/H1N1

Source: http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php?catID=gulfnews&nid=5688&viewed=0

H1N1 outbreak feared among Makkah pilgrims
S.O. News Service, Saturday, 20 June 2009 - 23:14:35 IST


Dubai: There are growing fears that a swine flu outbreak could sweep through Makkah as Umrah and the Haj bring millions of pilgrims from around the world.

Egypt's health minister Hatem Al Jabali has warned that pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia could face quarantine.

Saudi Arabia is gearing up for a possible outbreak among pilgrims after the first case was detected in a Malaysian boy in Makkah, health ministry spokesman Khaled Marghlani said.

The Saudis are working with World Health Organisation experts to finalise a plan to deal with the threat, Marghlani said.

The concerns are heightened because nearly 16,000 Americans perform the Haj each year. The outbreak has been most severe in the US where more than 17,000 people have been affected, killing 44 people.

Saudi Arabia is determined to go ahead with plans for the Haj and have stockpiled medicines to deal with any outbreak.

Shaikh Abdul Mohsin Al Obaikan, an adviser to the Saudi royal family and a member of the Consultative Council appointed by the king, was quoted by the Okaz daily as saying Islam does not condone travel bans. "It is not proper to ban people from the Haj," he said.

Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, WHO spokesperson, told "The WHO does not recommend any travel restrictions with regard to the pandemic influenza H1N1, because this virus is causing a moderate pandemic. [In reference to the Haj], every year we monitor a number of other health concerns such as diarrhoea - it is an area where a lot of people gather."

The committee to combat swine flu will meet on Sunday to discuss Haj preparations.

The UAE authorities have stepped up their fight against the disease, asking students abroad to call emergency numbers and notify them of symptoms.

The UAE embassy in Washington said no UAE citizen has been infected and the embassy has a committee to follow up all UAE nationals who are visiting the US.

Dr. Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al Haddad, Grand Mufti at the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department told Gulf News: "Postponing (Umra) depends on the spreading of contagious disease in an actual manner, where one cannot ward it off by any other means, it is then that the holy Islamic Sharei'a (Islamic Law) makes it inevitable that a person does not subject himself to harms way. It is as the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said: (?If you hear that there is plague in a land, do not enter it; and if it (plague) visits a land while you are therein, do not go out of it" as conveyed by Al Bukhari and others.

And as this flu is still limited in its affect and deaths, as indicated by the facts, there is still space to move.

Physicians in the World Health Organization or in different countries around the world have to monitor the situation at all times, and they have to advise religious scholars (Faqih) about the disease's spreading speed, and the affects it leaves behind and the possibility of curing it.

If it comes to the knowledge of these physicians that the issue is out of hand and has become uncontrollable, then Islamic law implies that people do not locate themselves in harms way, exactly as Caliph Omar and a number of the holy Prophet's (PBUH) companions did when accosted by the plague in Syria.

However, we have heard from international and world organizations that we should not worry because of this disease, despite the fact that it has been elevated to the sixth and final degree, but that is due to its spreading among people, and the fact that there is no anti vaccine. The affects of the disease are not alarming, that is why it is not a reason for Muslims to refrain from performing Umra and Haj.

 

[tropical]

Re: The Hajj and A/H1N1

#3: "Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, WHO spokesperson, told "The WHO does not recommend any travel restrictions with regard to the pandemic influenza H1N1, because this virus is causing a moderate pandemic."


How many things could going in a diferent way, and maybe the vaccines could be partly ready at hand - because of an more delayed and slowed mass spreading, if the WHO was recommended travel restrictions, international and national, or if the countries decided to not follow such actual non-recommendation.