Haj ban on elderly and young
Arab health ministers yesterday agreed to ban certain people, including the elderly and young children, from pilgrimage to Makkah in an effort to contain the spread of H1N1 flu.
“Haj and Umrah will continue with some conditions,” Ibrahim al-Kerdani, World Health Organisation spokesman in Egypt, said after a meeting of Arab health ministers in Cairo.
“Some groups will be excluded from Haj: people over the age of 65, people under the age of 12 and people with chronic illnesses,” he told reporters.
The decision to keep the vulnerable groups away from the pilgrimage is yet to be ratified by the health ministers’ governments, he said.
Hussein Gezairi, WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean region, predicted that Riyadh would ratify the recommendations.
“The Saudi government will make (these conditions) a requirement... No one will get their visa unless these requirements are fulfilled,” he said.
As well as the annual Haj, which all Muslims are required to make once in a lifetime if they have the means, the faithful can also make a lesser pilgrimage to the holy places, known as Umrah, at any time of the year.
Upwards of 2mn people are expected in Saudi Arabia over the next five months on pilgrimages.
On Monday, Egypt became the latest country to warn vulnerable Muslims against pilgrimage, after a woman back from Saudi Arabia became the first H1N1 flu death in the Middle East and Africa. Egyptian officials have said all returning pilgrims will be quarantined.
In Iran, a health ministry official on Tuesday repeated calls for elderly Iranians and children to avoid travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage as the number of confirmed H1N1 flu cases in the Islamic republic rose to 16.
Saudi Arabia in June warned elderly Muslims and pregnant women against undertaking the Haj because of the threat of H1N1 flu. Oman issued a similar warning on July 6.
Tunisia earlier this month suspended Umrah pilgrimages because of the virus, while reserving judgment on whether the main Haj pilgrimage should be undertaken in November. AFP
Source: Gulf-times.com
