Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is expected to declare commenced, the Tamale segment of the 2017 Hajj operations on 10th August date when the first batch of prospective pilgrims from the Northern parts of the country would be airlifted to Saudi Arabia.
The Tamale airlift is considered a significant feat and therefore dear to the heart of the Vice President who has, time without number, implored the Ghana Hajj Board to ensure it is offered all the support so it is smoothly conducted.
The Vice President has demanded equal smoothness for the Accra operation which would commence on 17th August soon after the exhaustion of the six flights from Tamale.
He has charged the IT department headed by Dr. Mohammed Sani-Abdulai to use the leverage; the appropriate software to ensure that the nightmare of sleeping for nights at the Hajj Village is eliminated.
In that direction, the IT chief has assured that when he is done with an ongoing data entry process, the much touted alert system that would enable critical information such as departure dates to prospective pilgrims be sent, would be activated. It is a novelty that would eliminate once and for all the nuisance of prospective pilgrims sleeping for nights on end not knowing when they would be flying.
In a related development, Deputy Communications Director Abubakar Mohammed Marzuq has posted a successful report for the Wa health screening exercise after joining Dr. Seidu Zakari Head of the Medical Unit of the board for the exercise a few days ago.
Hundreds of prospective pilgrims thronged the regional library in the city to take part in the exercise which is one of the novelties initiated by the Health Department to improve the quality of medical delivery to the Ghanaian pilgrims this year.
Addressing the prospective pilgrims, Dr Seidu Zakaria, enumerated the areas of screening. These included blood pressure, blood group, and sugar level. Others were hepatitis B, malaria parasites, and body mass index.
He explained that the screening was to ascertain the medical history of each pilgrim and to enable his Department constitute a competent team, procure appropriate drugs, and assemble relevant equipment for effective medical delivery in the forthcoming Hajj.
General clinics, an emergency team, door-to-door medical team, and a gerontology unit to cater for the aged were other interventions he mentioned as part of strategies to offer better services to Ghanaian pilgrims in the Holy Land.
In addition, Dr. Zakaria stated, “our pilgrims would enjoy health education on exercise, nutrition, regular medical check-up, and hand washing techniques.”
He commended the prospective pilgrims for what he called “their high sense of discipline” during the exercise.
The Deputy Communications Director, appealed to the prospective pilgrims to cooperate with the Health Department and contribute to the success of the exercise.
According to him, the screening is not to harass anybody but to maximize the chances of everybody to be healthy enough for a comfortable Hajj.
Marzuq, who doubles as an Islamic Scholar, advised the prospective pilgrims to use the forthcoming Hajj as an opportunity of attitudinal change for the benefit of society.
By A.R. Gomda