Elderly and sick pilgrims given special care in Makkah ahead of Hajj

The Saudi General Directorate of Passports confirms the arrival of 1.5 million pilgrims so far

An elderly woman prays at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. AFP

Saudi Arabia is providing special assistance to sick and elderly pilgrims, with more than 1.5 million arriving to perform the Hajj pilgrimage set to begin on Friday.

The General Directorate of Passports confirmed the arrival of 1,547,295 pilgrims in the kingdom, as of Tuesday.

Authorities said 1,483,312 pilgrims entered Saudi Arabia through its airports while the rest arrived via land and sea.

Saudi officials expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed 2023, when more than 1.8 million people performed Hajj, approaching pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage. Saudi authorities control the flow of pilgrims through quotas, allowing each country one pilgrim for every thousand Muslim citizens.

The pilgrims included 4,200 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who arrived in Makkah earlier this month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could not travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year, because of the eight-month war between Israel and Hamas.

The annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, will start on Friday. All Muslims are expected to complete the Hajj to Makkah – from which non-Muslims are strictly banned – at least once in their lives, if they have the means to do so.

Earlier on Tuesday, the state-owned El Ekhbariya channel ran a report recognising Algerian Sarahouda Stiti as the oldest pilgrim this year, at 130 years old. The National could not independently verify the claim, which would make her the oldest person alive by a considerable margin.

Ms Stiti arrived at Jeddah International Airport on June 10 where she was greeted by Saudi officials and the Algerian Hajj mission.

The Saudi Ministry of Health also transported 18 severely sick pilgrims of 12 nationalities who were hospitalised in Madinah by ambulance to Jabal Al Rahma Hospital in Arafat.

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Every Hajj season, Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry implements the Save a Life programme, which offers free health care including procedures such as open heart surgery, cardiac catheterisation and even childbirth services.

Some critics have accused pilgrims over the years of taking advantage of “medical Hajj tourism” since treatments are free of charge, but health ministry officials say that is not the case.

“The Ministry of Health is equipping 18 hospitals and 126 health centres in Makkah and the holy sites to cater to all pilgrims, whether in urgent care or not,” said Minister of Health Dr Tawfiq Al Rabiah.