Lancet I.D.: Hajj Pilgrimage Management Example For Worldwide Health Security

[tetano]

The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 12, Issue 1, Pages 56 - 65, January 2012
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doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(11)70337-1Cite or Link Using DOI
Emergence of medicine for mass gatherings: lessons from the Hajj
Prof Ziad A Memish MD a b Corresponding AuthorEmail Address, Gwen M Stephens MD a c, Prof Robert Steffen MD d e, Qanta A Ahmed MD f
Summary
Although definitions of mass gatherings (MG) vary greatly, they consist of large numbers of people attending an event at a specific site for a finite time. Examples of MGs include World Youth Day, the summer and winter Olympics, rock concerts, and political rallies. Some of the largest MGs are spiritual in nature. Among all MGs, the public health issues, associated with the Hajj (an annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia) is clearly the best reported?probably because of its international or even intercontinental implications in terms of the spread of infectious disease. Hajj routinely attracts 2?5 million Muslims for worship. WHO's global health initiatives have converged with Saudi Arabia's efforts to ensure the wellbeing of pilgrims, contain infectious diseases, and reinforce global health security through the management of the Hajj. Both initiatives emphasise the importance of MG health policies guided by sound evidence and based on experience and the timeliness of calls for a new academic science-based specialty of MG medicine.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(11)70337-1/fulltext

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Lancet I.D.: Hajj Pilgrimage Management Example For Worldwide Health Security

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94709

HEALTH: Learning from Saudi experience on risks of mass gatherings
23 January 2012

LONDON, 23 January 2012 (IRIN) - The world?s great mass gatherings - from religious pilgrimages like the annual Haj to Saudi Arabia and India?s huge Kumbh Mela, to major sporting events like the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup - present important health challenges to organizers and participants alike.

Now, with London expecting more than five million visitors to attend Olympic events there this summer, the British medical journal, the Lancet, has published a special series of studies on mass gatherings and global health...

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Lancet I.D.: Hajj Pilgrimage Management Example For Worldwide Health Security

machine translation

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj ordered intensified surveillance of the camps of pilgrims
Thursday, October 4, 2012 - 14:16

File photo
Jeddah (a. U. A)

Committed and Saudi Ministry of Hajj institutions Raft intensify security guards at the camps of pilgrims, to prevent the sequence of pilgrims irregular them, and overcrowding, which gets each year and cause problems several camps. initiated institutions raft to raise the number of guards in the camps by 50% compared to last year.

more...

http://www1.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=805904&SecID=65&IssueID=0