The Ministry of Religious Affairs has made meningitis and influenza vaccines compulsory for each pilgrim intending to fly to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj this year.
The Religious Affairs Ministry and the Health Ministry will jointly run mass-awareness campaigns to encourage Hajj pilgrims to take the vaccines and they will also be advised to take precautions in order to protect themselves against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
This decision was taken at an inter-ministerial meeting yesterday which was chaired by Religious Affairs Ministry Secretary Chowdhury Md Babul Hasan.
Md Jahangir Alam, deputy secretary (Hajj), told the Dhaka Tribune that both meningitis and influenza vaccines are a must for every pilgrim.
We are also seriously looking into the spread of MERS-CoV as it has become a threat to Hajj pilgrims, he said.
“The World Health Organisation has also cautioned against MERS. At present, there is no vaccine against MERS infection,” he added.
Professor Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of Communicable Disease Control (CDC) of the Health Directorate, told the Dhaka Tribune that a number of decisions were taken at the meeting to raise awareness among pilgrims.
As part of the awareness campaign, pilgrims will be advised to wear masks in Saudi Arabia when they are outside and to avoid coming into contact with fellow pilgrims who are suffering from colds. Besides, they should wash their hands and faces after returning from outside.
More than one lakh pilgrims from Bangladesh will be performing this year’s Hajj.
