Indonesia haj management committee (PPIH) officials escort a pilgrim upon his arrival at a hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on May 20, 2024. More than 56,000 Indonesian pilgrims had arrived in the Middle Eastern country as of May 20 to go on the month-long pilgrimage. - Antara Photo via Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA (Jakarta Post/ANN): A total of 774 Indonesian pilgrims passed away during last year’s haj season. The figure was more than eight times the number of 2022 deaths and the highest since 2015.
The Health Ministry has put new measures in place this year to monitor haj pilgrims’ health and keep them fit throughout the journey in an effort bring down high mortality rates among Indonesians performing the Muslim rite.
A total of 774 Indonesian pilgrims passed away during last year’s haj season. The figure was more than eight times the number of 2022 deaths and the highest since 2015. Government authorities blamed the mortality spike on the high number of elderly pilgrims and the extreme heat of the Saudi Arabian summer, with highs of up to 48 degrees Celsius.
For this year’s haj season, the ministry is seeking to improve health screening and ensure better diagnoses and care for sick pilgrims.
“We’re now providing QR codes on pilgrims’ name tags that lead directly to their international patient summary, which consists of their name, date of birth, age, health history, vaccination status, medication history and allergies,” said Health Ministry haj health center head Liliek Marhaendro Susilo in a statement on Saturday.
He added that the data could help health professionals, including in Saudi Arabian hospitals, give faster and more accurate diagnoses and treat ailing pilgrims more effectively.
Indonesian authorities have also imposed stricter requirements for pilgrims with underlying health conditions seeking embark on the haj.
For example, unlike in 2023, they have forbidden people with stage-5 chronic kidney disease to perform the haj.
“Pilgrims with diabetes must also have their blood sugar levels under control,” Liliek said.
Aside from the regular health screenings, all pilgrims also must undergo cognitive, mental and physical assessments conducted by healthcare professionals, who give them a score ranging from 1 to 5 in each of a set of categories.
A computer algorithm then determines whether a pilgrim is fit enough to go on haj based on their scores.
“We’ll have a really objective result through this innovation to determine who is healthy enough to perform haj,” Liliek said.
Despite the efforts, authorities reported that at least six pilgrims had died as of Monday. Elderly-friendly Indonesia has the highest haj pilgrim mortality rates of the countries that release such data, according to a study published in 2019 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health.
A study of Iranian haj pilgrims estimated a mortality rate of 24 per 100,000 in 2015. In the same year, Indonesia recorded a rate of 214 per 100,000 pilgrims. The haj is physically demanding, as pilgrims must travel in high heat and among large crowds.
Extreme physical stressors, such as prolonged sun exposure and extreme temperatures, further raise the health risks for pilgrims, who tend to be older and have underlying health conditions. Indonesian pilgrims have to wait notoriously long to go on the haj, given the great number of Muslims in the country and Saudi Arabian pilgrim quotas, with wait times averaging 24 years in recent years.
The long wait means many applicants are in their 60s or 70s by the time they get the chance to perform the haj. This year, some 241,000 Indonesians are expected to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Nearly 45,000 of the pilgrims, or 18.5 percent, are older than 65. More than 50 pilgrims are over 90 years old, and this year’s oldest pilgrim is 109 years old.
Since last year, authorities have been placing more emphasis on elderly-friendly haj services, said Liliek of the Health Ministry, adding that such services started when the pilgrims were still in Indonesia, particularly during the training for the journey.
Starting next year, pilgrims will undergo health screenings two years before their departure. This, the official said, would allow people with comorbidities to receive treatment long before they went on the haj.
More than 56,000 Indonesian pilgrims had arrived in Saudi Arabia as of Monday.
The five-day culmination of the haj ritual take place from June 14 to 19, but pilgrims will only return to Indonesia beginning on June 22 as they wait their turn to fly home. -- The Jakarta Post/ANN
