Concern about Ebola on Hajj

Published Aug 21, 2014

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Staff Writer

CONCERNS about Ebola have been raised by some local Muslims who will be travelling to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj.

Following an initial suspension of pilgrim visas to Sierra Leone where an outbreak of Ebola had occurred, that country’s Social Welfare Minister Moijueh Kaikai claimed it had since been given permission by the Saudi Arabian government to send 1 000 pilgrims on the Hajj.

However the Saudi Health Ministry website said Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia were still suspended from sending pilgrims.

Ebrahim Jattiem, a Mitchells Plain-based doctor, said two of his patients would be embarking on pilgrimage but were concerned. “There is a lot of contradicting information on the internet. The Saudi government says it has placed a ban on pilgrims from these countries, but you find that Sierra Leone is still asking for pilgrims to go ahead.

“People are concerned. They don’t know what the official stand is. If people from these countries, who have perhaps been infected, go into Saudi what checks and balances are in place to ensure that there is no outbreak there? That’s what people want to know.”

The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) and the SA Hajj and Umrah Council (Sahuc) have continued to assure local Hujjaj (pilgrims) that it would be safe to travel.

More than 2 000 pilgrims from South Africa will join millions who will be in Mecca from October 1.

Hajj is one of five pillars of Islam and is compulsory for financially and physically able Muslims. Every year about three million Muslims perform the Hajj.

MJC spokeswoman Nabeweya Malick said there was no reason for concern because the “Saudi Ministry is very strict about health issues”.

“They make checks and ensure that everything is okay,” Malick said. She said the council took its direction from doctors who dealt with health issues on hajj travels.

“I have been in contact with Dr Salim Parker and he has not said anything to us or cautioned the community on measures to take.”

Sahuc secretary Shaheen Essop said the organisation’s medical staff had declared it safe to travel. “Saudi authorities have blocked everyone coming from the countries that have been affected by Ebola from visiting the kingdom... At this point in time there is no need for panic.”

The Saudi Gazette reported two weeks ago that the Ministry of Health had banned the issuance of Hajj and Umrah visas for Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia because of concerns about the spread of Ebola in these countries.

“We have communicated the instructions to the officials of all ports of entry. We have trained our personnel on how to identify and deal with Ebola cases and control virus infection, should it happen,” Ministry of Health spokesman Khalid Marghalani was quoted as saying.

Sierra Leone Social Welfare Minister Moijueh Kaikai told reporters in Freetown, days after the ban was issued, that his government and the Hajj organisers in Saudi Arabia had signed an agreement to allow 1 000 pilgrims.

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