ISLAMABAD: Saudi authorities have launched a health awareness campaign in several languages, including Urdu, for pilgrims arriving in the Kingdom for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and requires every adult Muslim to undertake the journey to the holy Islamic sites in Makkah at least once in their lifetime if they are financially and physically able.
This year, around 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims are expected to perform the pilgrimage, of which around 70,000 people will undertake the journey under the government scheme, while the rest will use private tour operators.
The health awareness campaign for Hajj pilgrims is being carried out at key locations in the Kingdom through dozens of screens, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“The campaign is being carried out through 97 smart display screens at various locations including Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport, the Haramain High Speed Railway Station, shuttle buses, pilgrim reception centers, malls and the health cluster’s facilities,” the report read.
“Messages cover issues such as the dangers of direct sun exposure, heat exhaustion, dehydration, food poisoning, first aid, personal hygiene and other health topics.”
More than 42,000 Pakistani pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia and around 390 assistants, including Pakistani civil and uniformed officers, are currently working for their travel and accommodation as well as for providing quality food to the pilgrims, according to the Pakistani religion ministry.
Over 150 officers of the religious affairs ministry are facilitating pilgrims at the Main Control Office, Madinah and Jeddah Airports, Lost and Found Department, Madinah Departure Cell, Monitoring Cell, and Accounts and Administration Departments.
This year’s pilgrimage is expected to run from June 14 till June 19.
Saudi Arabia launches health awareness campaign for Hajj pilgrims in Urdu, other languages
https://arab.news/candd
Saudi Arabia launches health awareness campaign for Hajj pilgrims in Urdu, other languages
- This year, around 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims are expected to perform the annual pilgrimage
- Pakistan has appointed nearly 550 assistants, staff to ensure well-being of these pilgrims
Rating firm S&P says it won’t rush Iran war downgrades, sees risks for countries like Pakistan
- Agency says it is monitoring indebted energy importers as higher oil prices strain finances
- Gulf economies seen better placed to weather shock, though Bahrain flagged as vulnerable
LONDON: S&P Global said it would not make any knee-jerk sovereign rating cuts following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, but warned on Thursday that soaring oil and gas prices were putting a number of already cash-strapped countries at risk.
The firm’s top analysts said in a webinar that the conflict, which has involved US and Israeli strikes against Iran and Iranian strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states, was now moving from a low- to moderate-risk scenario.
Most Gulf countries had enough fiscal buffers, however, to weather the crisis for a while, with more lowly rated Bahrain the only clear exception.
Qatar’s banking sector could also struggle if there were significant deposit outflows in reaction to the conflict, although there was no evidence of such strains at the moment, they said.
“We don’t want to jump the gun and just say things are bad,” S&P’s head global sovereign analyst, Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, said.
The longer the crisis was prolonged, though, “the more difficult it is going to be,” he added.
Sifon-Arevalo said Asia was the second-most exposed region, due to many of its countries being significant Gulf oil and gas importers.
India, Thailand and Indonesia have relatively lower reserves of oil, while the region also had already heavily indebted countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka whose finances would be further hurt by rising energy prices.
“We are closely monitoring these (countries) to see how the credit stories evolve,” Sifon-Arevalo said.
