Health Issues of Nigerian Muslim Pilgrims in The Immediate Post-Covid-19 Era Hajj Year 2022– Part II (Non-Communicable Diseases)

Raji Saheed; Ismaila Isiaka; Amina Saleh Mande; Adam Ahmad

doi:10.33086/iimj.v5i1.4210

Authors

Raji Saheed Sarkin Maska Shehu Hospital (SMASH) Funtua, Katsina State, Nigeria
Dr Ismaila Isiaka Outpatient Department , General Hospita;l Duba, Tabuk Provoince, Saudi Arabia
Amina Saleh Mande Physiotherapy Unit, SMASH, Funtua, Katsina State, Nigeria
Adam Ahmad Nutrition and Dietetics Unit, SMASH, Funtua, Katsina State

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33086/iimj.v5i1.4210

Keywords:

Hajj, Health, COVID-19, Muslim, Nigerians

Abstract

Background: Hajj is an important rite in the life of devout Muslims, requiring the devolvement of physical and material resources in its execution. Limitations posed by COVID-19 on the performance of Hajj make the year 2022 hajj to be an atypical one compared to other years' international hajj. Nigerian pilgrims are peculiar as a low-and middle-income country (LAMIC) with the highest number of Muslim pilgrims from Africa. The objective of this article is to review the health implications of Hajj and peculiarities of the post- COVID 19 era, regarding non-communicable diseases in Nigerian pilgrims based on literature, the interaction of authors with pilgrims, and the experiences of an author as a pilgrim.

Results: Commonly encountered non-communicable respiratory, cardiovascular, nutritional, gastrointestinal, endocrine, reproductive, neurological, and musculoskeletal health issues in Nigerian pilgrims were explored. Preventive health strategies by individual pilgrims, the national medical team of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and other stakeholders involved directly or indirectly in conducting Hajj rites were appraised. This includes but not limited to illness screening, chronic illness management, life style modification, medication adherence, and accident prevention.

Conclusions: It was concluded that the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as Nigeria authorities on Hajj health services, are commendable, though there are still a lot of areas that need to be improved upon. Significant importance should be given to pre-hajj and post-hajj screening of pilgrims for communicable health issues in pilgrims to enable optimal execution of hajj task and maintenance of pilgrims’ health beyond hajj period.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abubakar, R. (2022). Speial report: inside NAHCON medical center at Hajj 2022. Muslim News Nigeria. http;//muslimnews.com.ng/2022/07/31/special-report-inside-nahcons-medical-center-at-hajj-2022/

Al-Harthi, A., & Al-Harbi, M. (2001). Accidental injuries during Muslim pilgrimage. Saudi Medical Journal, 22(6), 523–525.

Aljoudi, A. S. (2013). A University of the Hajj? The Lancet, 382(9906), 1689. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62340-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62340-5

Aljuhani, N. (2021). Antioxidant properties of Zamzam water : a review for arsenic concerns and potential modulation of drug toxicity. International Journal of Medicine in Developing Countries, 5(11), 1988–1995. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.24911/IJMDC.2.1.7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24911/IJMDC.51-1604775624

Almekhlafi, M. A., Alhazmi, M. A., Alsulami, S. S., & Almorsy, S. A. (2017). Incidence and impact of stroke during Hajj: results of 2015 Hajj stroke registry. Neurosciences, 22(3), 181–185. https://doi.org/10.17712/nsj.2017.3.20160246 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17712/nsj.2017.3.20160246

Alshehri, M. A., Alfaqeh, A., & Alzahrani, H. (2021). The prevalence and factors associated with musculoskeletal pain among pilgrims during the Hajj. Journal of Pain Research, February. https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S293338 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S293338

Alzahrani, A. S., Alqahtani, A. M., Elmorsy, S. A., Alhazmi, M., Mahdi, H. A., Albarakati, B., Alkhiri, A., & Hakeem, A. (2021). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Hajj pilgrims using MINI as a diagnostic tool. Journal of Public Health (Germany), 29(1), 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-019-01110-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-019-01110-3

Aremu, M. (2022, September). 2022 Hajj, Matters Arising. Hajj Reporters. http://www.hajjreporters.com/2022-hajj-matters-arising

Asif, M. (2016). Health impact of high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) and poor nutrition foods. Acta Medica Scientia, 3(3). http://asdpub.com/index.php/ams/article/view/348/216

Brown, E. E., Gerretsen, P., Pollock, B., & Graff-Guerrero, A. (2018). Psychiatric benefits of lithium in water supplies may be due to protection from the neurotoxicity of lead exposure. Medical Hypotheses, 115, 94–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2018.04.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2018.04.005

D’Amato, M., Molino, A., Calabrese, G., Cecchi, L., Annesi-Maesano, I., & D’Amato, G. (2018). The impact of cold on the respiratory tract and its consequences to respiratory health. Clinical and Translational Allergy, 8(20). https://doi.org/DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s13601-018-0208-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13601-018-0208-9

Gbadamosi, S. (2022, July 7). 2022 Hajj: NAHCON medical team laments presence of pregnant Nigerian pilgrims. Nigerian Tribune. https://www.tribuneonline.com/2022/07/2022-hajj-nahcon-medical-team-laments-presence-of-pregnant-nigerian-pilgrims/amp/

HA, A. D., RM, A.-S., UM, O., & HA, A. (2021). Biochemical and histological effects of five weeks ingestion of zamzam water on the liver and kidneys of wistar rats. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal, 29(1), 91–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsps.2020.12.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsps.2020.12.007

Harris Curtis, C. (1976). Carcinogenicity of antocancer drugs: a hazard in man. Cancer, 37, 1014–1023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(197602)37:2+<1014::AID-CNCR2820370805>3.0.CO;2-Z

Islam, N., Ayaz, A., & Farooq, M. U. (2019). Awareness and experiences of female pilgrims about menstrual suppression during Hajj 1437 Hijrah : a cross‑ sectional study. Saudi Jounal for Health Sciences, 8(1), 12–16. https://doi.org/10.4103/sjhs.sjhs DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/sjhs.sjhs_104_18

Lyrin, G. (2011). Contaminated “zamzam” holy water from Mecca sold in UK. British Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-13267205.amp

Memish, Z. A., Stephens, G. M., Steffen, R., & Ahmed, Q. A. (2012). Emergence of medicine for mass gatherings: lessons from the Hajj. In The Lancet Infectious Diseases (Vol. 12, Issue 1, pp. 56–65). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(11)70337-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(11)70337-1

Raja, W., Aziz, A., Hassan, T. B., Jalil, M., Niazi, I. ulllah, Jawaid, N., & Tariq, M. (2017). Disease patterns among Hajj pilgrims attending medical facilities of Pakistan Hajj medical Mission 2016 (1413 Hijri). Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal, 67, 825–831.

Reza Azarpazhooh, M., Bavarsad Shahripour, R., Kapral, M. K., Mokhber, N., Shoeibi, A., Taghi Farzadfard, M., Reza Rafati, M., Thrift, A. G., Morovatdar, N., Aidin Sajedi, S., & Azarpazhooh, A. (2013). Incidence of first ever stroke during Hajj ceremony. BMC (Biomedcentral) Neurology, 13(193). https://doi.org/doi:10.1186/1471-2377-13-193 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-13-193

Saad, A. (2017). Health issues during Hajj. The Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine, 29(2), 37–39. https://doi.org/10.4103/ejim.ejim_31_17 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ejim.ejim_31_17

Saifuddin, A., Nasir, U. Z., Rengganis, I., & Shatri, H. (2020). Risk factors for asthma exacerbation among Hajj pilgrims, a case study from DKI Jakarta, Indonesia. Medical Journal of Indonesia, 29(2), 190–197. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.13181/mji.oa.204170 DOI: https://doi.org/10.13181/mji.oa.204170

Saketkhoo, K., Januszkiewicz, A., & Sackner, M. A. (1978). Effects of drinking hot water, cold water, and chicken soup on nasal mucus velocity and nasal airflow resistance. Chest, 74(4), 408–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-3692(15)37387-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-3692(15)37387-6

Shaikh-omar, O. A., Header, E. A., & Bukhari, H. M. (2013). Digestive discomforts and effect of ingested food in people performing Hajj. Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences, 9(January), 341–347. https://doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2013.09.44 DOI: https://doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2013.09.44

Shomar, B. (2012). Zamzam water: concentration of trace elements and other characteristics. Chemosphere, 86(6), 600–605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.10.025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.10.025

Smith, S. W., Hauben, M., & Aronson, J. K. (2012). Paradoxical and bidirectional drug effects. Drug Safety, 35(3), 173–189. https://doi.org/10.2165/11597710-000000000-00000 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/11597710-000000000-00000

Sudhir Gadh. (2020). Low-dose lithium impact in an addiction treatment setting. Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry, 21–22. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmip.2020.100059 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmip.2020.100059

Usara, F. S. (2022, November 22). Hajj Institute of Nigeria Received Federal Government’s Approval. PR Nigeria. https://prnigeria.com/2022/03/30/hajj-institute-nigeria/

WHO. (2018). Arsenic. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/arsenic