Doctors to accompany Algerian pilgrims, says minister

Algerian religious affairs minister Bouabdellah Ghoulamallah said medical delegations will accompany the Algerian people performing the religious act of Omra in Saudi Arabia as part of preventive measures against the swine flu.

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• “Three doctors will be mobilised in Mecca and three others in Medina to keep watch on the Algerians performing the religious act of Omra. The number of doctors will be multiply during the fasting month of Ramadan,” Ghoulamallah said in a seminar in Algeria.
• “Algeria did not receive any written recommendations from Saudi Arabia to prevent old elderly people from performing pilgrimage,” he added.
• He also said the ministry provided the Pilgrimage National Office with 4 million surgical masks for every pilgrim.
• The minister excluded the possibility of banning the pilgrimage and Omra season for Algerians following warnings launched by some organisations against the swine flu spread among pilgrims.
• Officials told Echorouk Algeria will take all the measures and will step up preventive procedures on the Algerian pilgrims.
• The Pilgrimage National Office is preparing for an awareness-raising campaign on prevention against the pandemic.