25th September, 2017
Nigerian pilgrims, currently in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, have commended the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) for introducing new pilgrims’ healthcare services during the 2017 hajj.
Under the old system, state governments were responsible for healthcare of their pilgrims during hajj.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that under the new system, State Medical Teams joined their counterpart at the national level to render services to pilgrims at designated clinics in the Holy land.
Some of the pilgrims interviewed by NAN said the system was a welcome development as regards the health of pilgrims.
They said that system has addressed the problem of shortage of medical personnel during hajj.
The pilgrims also noted that adequate and qualitative drugs were made available to improve their health.
Alhaji Muhammad Rabiu, one of the pilgrims, said that he was impressed by the way medical personnel were using ICT while attending to patients.
“I was given some drugs for my ailment, after I finished taking the medicine, I went to a pharmaceutical shop and asked the cost of similar drug just yo know its price.
“There I discovered that the medicine cost 60 Saudi Riyals, which not every pilgrim can afford,” he said.
Alhaji Hafiz Abdullahi, who has been on pilgrimage several times, said under the old system many state pilgrims welfare agencies ran short of drugs before the end of the exercise.
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“As it remains few days to finish transportation of pilgrims back home, patients are given adequate attention at those clinics,” he said.
Another pilgrim, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir, said that the new system was good but needed some improvement.
He urged NAHCON to increase the number of clinics to enable more pilgrims enjoy the service.
According to some official sources, who spoke with NAN the commission has only nine clinics for all Nigerian pilgrims in Makkah during this year’s hajj.
“The situation sometimes created difficulty for pilgrims in accessing the services,” sources said.
They, therefore, urged NAHCON to establish outreach clinics in pilgrims houses where minor health problems could be treated, while major problems would be treated at the main clinics.
They also observed that some health personnel were not conversant with the system of using ICT in rendering services to patients thereby causing delay in the process, and called for adequate training on the system.