Against all expectations, three Nigerian pilgrims who are supposed to have passed through pregnancy tests in Nigeria suffered miscarriage in Saudi Arabia, the Nigerian Medical Hajj Team in Saudi Arabia has said.
Dr Ibrahim Kana, Head, Medical Team of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Kana said that two other pilgrims also delivered in the holy land, contravening Saudi Government’s regulation banning pregnant women from performing the Hajj.
He said that the affected pilgrims were from Kaduna, and Potiskum in Yobe.
“We have three miscarriages so far in the kingdom and with two deliveries, one of the deliveries is from Kaduna state who delivered yesterday in Medina and the other one is a woman who had a caesarian section but unfortunately the baby came out dead.’’
Kana also disclosed that the Nigerian medical team had so far treated 9,874 pilgrims of malaria and other diseases since their arrival in the holy land.
He said 2,743 pilgrims were treated on arrival in Jeddah Airport while 629 were treated in Makkah.
According to him, 50 of the medical cases were referred to Saudi Clinics for proper diagnosis and treatment while those with complicated cases had surgical operations in the kingdom.
”Basically, the common ailment has to do with body pains and malaria fever as most of the pilgrims came from Nigeria with malaria fever and the diagnoses was based on clinical findings.”
He said that although there were initial threats of H&N1 and cholera in the kingdom, the medical team has yet to record such epidemic among the Nigerian pilgrims.
Kana said that the strategic partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Health had yielded a lot of results particularly with the establishment of the surveillance units.
He said that the responsibility of the surveillance unit was ensure effective monitoring of the pilgrims’ accommodation to prevent the outbreak of diseases among the Nigerian pilgrims.
The Hajj Medical Team, he said, had established clinics in Makkah, Medina and Jedda Airport.
The medical team comprises 100 doctors, 100 Nurses, and a host of pharmacists and environmental health workers.
Kana assured that adequate drugs been procured by the Federal Government to cater for the medical needs of Nigerian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.