Saudi Arabia's Administrative Procedures Prevented The Entry Of Medicines For Algerian Pilgrims

Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, Mohamed Issa, assured Algerians about the availability of medicines for all medical conditions, confirming that the delay in the entry of some medicines is due to the administrative procedures that are imposed by the Saudi authorities.

“Medicines for all sick pilgrims are available normally, and are sufficient and varied to respond to all cases”, the Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, Mohammed Issa, said Tuesday during an inspection visit to the central clinic of the Algerian medical mission, but he did not hide the delay in the entry of some medicines because of administrative procedures that are imposed by the authorities Saudi Arabia.

“The response of the mission and the medical staff, which was better treated and managed in addition to the boxes of medicines that they took from Algeria in tons, makes the medical staff benefit from these medicines and make them available to patients in various centers”.

The minister assured during his visit to Algerian pilgrims about the availability of medicines at the medical center of the mission, but a number of pilgrims and their families complained through the Facebook page of the National Bureau of Hajj and Umrah, the absence of medicines for some chronic diseases, as one commentator on the page said that his father suffers Asthma and cough but did not find medicines at the center of the mission, and was given only paracetamol, noting that doctors are present, but the drug is not present, calling for the intervention of the mission to find a solution to deliver medicines to sick pilgrims, and the same problem was confirmed by another person in his comment, who said that doctors prescribe only paracetamol for all patients, and others complained of the large number of food poisoning that infected pilgrims due to the quality of bad eating in some hotels such as the hotel “Rawabi Zamzam” and the hotel “Al Yasamine Al Tawba” demanding the intervention of the minister to inspect the situation of pilgrims there.

The minister met with the imams and religious guides in Makkah, where they were about 100 imams who belong to the office and 42 who belong to the various agencies, in order to keep a close eye on the preparations that were made for the launching of the Hajj on Wednesday, and for spiritual care and to guide the pilgrims in their holy places and sites.

In this context, the minister orders officials of the Algerian mission to give pilgrims precise instructions before the start of the rituals in all chapels that are related to religious guidance, logistics and health, especially about not being hit by the sun, and not to eat unhealthy meals by the pilgrims. 

The minister also focused on giving priority to the awareness and guidance of pilgrims as for the pilgrimage to Arafa, because pilgrimage as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, because it is logistically impossible for everyone to move to Mina and to stay there for lack of space and waste of the ritual due to the congestion and the large number of pilgrims on the day of purification, the minister considers that the pilgrimage conditions of this year are very difficult because of the high heat in August, and the difficulty of terrain, urging pilgrims to be patient and follow guidance to avoid accidents.

For his part, the head of the Fatwa Committee, Mohand Maazouz, who attended the meeting said that the Committee of Fatwa and Guidance with its religious members in the holy sites, are all ready to ensure the necessary and decent measures to enable Algerian pilgrims to perform their duties to the fullest, pointing to the remarkable circumference of our pilgrims around their imams, as they ask them questions and take their advice on how to perform the rituals.