The Jakarta Globe, July 17, 2013
Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs will allow all pre-approved hajj pilgrims to visit Mecca this October, despite firm warnings from Saudi Arabian officials over the risk of contracting the deadly MERS coronavirus, which has already left more than 40 dead.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health posted a recommendation on its website on July 12 urging at-risk pilgrims — the elderly, chronically ill, pregnant women and children — to avoid this year’s hajj. The recommendation came as health officials warned of health concerns over the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus — which has resulted in 82 infections and 45 deaths worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Indonesia, already stinging from a 20 percent reduction in hajj pilgrims this year, has no plans to introduce additional restrictions on candidates. The Ministry of Religious Affairs already bars the chronically ill from completing the pilgrimage. Anggito Abimanyu, the ministry’s director-general of hajj and umrah, called the warnings a mere recommendation.
“From all I know it is a recommendation,” Anggito said. “We are not obliged to follow it. Everyone who is on the list will go on hajj this year”
Some 168,000 Indonesian Muslims will make the pilgrimage to Mecca this October, completing what will be, for many, a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Islam’s holiest site. Indonesia has the largest hajj quota in the world, but waits in this Muslim-majority nation can still stretch to more than a decade.
For hundreds of pilgrims, the trip to Mecca is a perilous one. Last year, 382 Indonesian died during the pilgrimage. Most of them were older than 60 years old.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs plans to coordinate with Ministry of Health officials to promote preventative measures amid the health scare. The recommendations include staying hydrated, clean and wearing masks, Anggito said.
“They can also get an influenza shot, but it is not mandatory,” he said.
The Association of Indonesian Hajj Brotherhood (IPHI) urged the ministries to allow the elderly to complete the trip, responding to rumors that Indonesia will favor younger applicants over older ones out of concerns over the MERS virus’ mortality rate.
“[The] Saudi Arabian government only issued a recommendation for some countries, including Indonesia, to be aware of this emerging disease,” IPHI chairman Kurdi Mustofa said. “The Ministry of Religious Affairs should involve the Ministry of Health to determine who will be affected by the cut. It’s not about how old they are, it should be about whether or not they have a high health risk.”
An official with the Indonesia office of the World Health Organization said that while the MERS virus does cause severe respiratory problems, it does not appear to be as deadly as SARS or the H5N1 avian flu virus. Still, Graham Tallis, team leader of WHO Indonesia’s communicable diseases office, hajj pilgrims do face a greater risk of infection, especially the elderly.
“The danger with pilgrims is due to mass gathering, where the infection could transmit easily,” Tallis said in an e-mail to the Jakarta Globe. “[This coronavirus] does not appear to transmit easily between people whereas the SARS virus was much more transmissible.”
The Indonesian government needs to intensify monitoring at healthcare facilities as pilgrims return from the Middle East, including expanding laboratory capacity and increase staffing at airports and ports, as prevention of a possible outbreak, Tallis said.
Government offices must also raise awareness among hajj pilgrims — from hand washing to safe practices — and establish a reporting mechanism to monitor possible infections, he said.
The Ministry of Health echoed the advice.
“The main key is how to live a healthy and clean lifestyle,” said Vidiansyah, the head of the Health Ministry’s hajj health center, said. “Let’s not make the pilgrims panic [even] more after the quota cut and then [the] recommendation to ban the old pilgrims.”
The ministry has monitored the situation in Mecca during Ramadan, Vidiansyah said. So far, the ministry hasn’t seen anything that would raise the alarms.
“The situation of Ramadan in Saudi Arabia is similar to hajj pilgrimage,” he said. “There are so many people there just like during hajj and the Mers is also still a hot issue.
“[But[ from what we know, the current umra situation is not concerning.”
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wo 17 jul 2013 - 21:05