Hajj 2023: Analysing the Numbers Behind NAHCON’s Medical Team Performance

Hajj 2023: Analysing the Numbers Behind NAHCON’s Medical Team Performance

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, in Makkah

Weeks to the commencement of airlift to Saudi Arabia for the 2023 pilgrimage, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) promised heaven and earth in the area of standard medical care for pilgrims. That was also followed up with series of guidelines given to the intending pilgrims to ensure they enjoy the best of health in the Holy Land.

In my piece last week, I gave the medical team a preliminary pass mark for their efficiency which was based on my experience with them having been treated of malaria and flu in Madinah the previous week. While concluding that piece, I had promised to keep a close eye on the medical team and the quality of care they give to pilgrims who encounter them due to one illness or the other.

To start with, NAHCON came prepared with a fully loaded medical team. The Commission came to Saudi Arabia with a 524-member medical team, made up of 217 doctors, 91 pharmacists, 188 nurses and 28 Environmental Health Officers (EHO) and Community Health Officers (CHOs).

217 doctors for 95,000 pilgrims means a ratio of one doctor to 437 pilgrims which is far higher than Nigeria’s doctor to patient ratio of 1:10,000, a national average. Actually, according to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), in most areas of southern Nigeria, it is one doctor to 30,000 patients while in the North, it is mostly one doctor to 45,000 patients.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every country needs at least a doctor to 600 patients but NAHCON’s 1:437 is significantly higher.

According to WHO, every country needs at least a mix of 23 doctors, midwives and nurses for every 10,000 of its population which will give us a ratio of 1:434. But with a 524-member medical team which is meant to cater for 95,000 pilgrims, NAHCON has put together a ratio of at least one medical personnel for 181 pilgrims. This is huge in the sense that it is even better and bigger than the global standard.

The Commission also empowered the team to carry out patient care services that include clinical services, health education, emergency and referrals as well as follow-up checks on pilgrims that are critically ill.

As for infrastructure, the medical team operated one clinic and two outposts in Madinah and they are presently operating two clinics and three outposts in Makkah. This structure is apparently meant to ensure sick pilgrims can get quick help irrespective of where they are in the two cities.

Similar number of clinics and outposts were also mounted in Mina and Arafat with emergency response, ambulances and a caravan system.

To show how organised, meticulous and thorough the team is, the head of the medical mission, Dr Usman Galadima, made a graphical presentation of their capacity and activities for the past one month at a Pre-Arafat meeting with stakeholders on Sunday night in Makkah. The stakeholders were impressed by the team especially the way Dr Galadima gave quality attention to every detail in his presentation.

According to him, as at Saturday, 24th of June, 2023, 15,860 Nigerian pilgrims had so far fallen sick and had been treated in the health facilities in Makkah and Madinah, out which are 7,803 were males and 8,057 females.

The above figure is higher than the Pre-Arafat clinic visits recorded in 2022 (9,852), 2019 (12, 222), 2017 (13,305), 2015 (6,744) and 2014 (8,223).

This year’s figure is however lower than the Pre-Arafat clinic visits of 2018 (16,503), 2016 (19,734) and 2013 (16,020).

He added that there had been eight cases of communicable diseases among the patients out of which seven were chicken pox and one was tuberculosis.

Dr Galadima also informed the gathering that eight pilgrims had so far suffered fracture since the clinics were opened about a month ago.

He listed malaria, common cold, peptic ulcer, hypertension and musclokeletal disorders as the five most common sicknesses troubling the pilgrims.

The doctor also observed an increase in certain risk factors which include referrals to Saudi Hospitals which he put at 100, Diabetes cases, fractures among elderly pilgrims and cardiac arrests which he said had already claimed the lives of six pilgrims.

This means that with a total of 15,806 hospital cases, 100 referrals and six deaths, the NAHCON clinics had successfully treated and discharged about 15700 Nigerian pilgrims within the period under review.

The death rate, he said, was higher than the mortality rates recorded in the entire Hajj seasons of 2017, 2018 and 2022.

He also reported seven pregnancy cases among Nigerian female pilgrims who had been attended to at different clinics across Makkah and Madinah.

Dr Galadima disclosed that out of the seven pregnant women that had so far been discovered, one was delivered of a baby via cesarian session when the foetus was seven month old while another pregnant woman had a miscarriage due to the stress of the Hajj exercise.

He listed the states that produced the seven pregnant women to include Sokoto (2), Katsina (1), Yobe (1), Adamawa (1), Kwara (1) and Plateau (1).

The doctor also announced that the medics had treated 30 psychiatric cases among the pilgrims and they were all certified fit to continue the Hajj rites.

He lamented that this year, there is a high turnout of pilgrims who as a result of pregnancy, old age or life threatening illnesses were supposed to be certified “NOT FIT to travel” which means they were not supposed to be allowed to come for Hajj.

The doctor also called on the authorities at state levels to be thorough in screening intending pilgrims to ensure pregnant women, elderly ones and people with serious illnesses are not allowed to be in Saudi Arabia for Hajj.

Taking adequate care of pilgrims is work in progress and we can’t make any conclusive judgement now until the last of the 95,000 pilgrim leaves Saudi Arabia in good health. But NAHCON and its medical team have proven that with clear-headed leadership, adequate preparation, sound logistics and competent personnel, Nigeria can be on top of its game in all areas of our national life and we can hold our own in the comity of serious nations.

Abdulrahman Abdulraheem is the Managing Editor of PRNIGERIA and ECONOMIC CONFIDENTIAL.