China trains medical staff for Hajj

China finished training more than 50 ethnic minority doctors on health service and disease prevention for 14,490 people who are preparing for their pilgrimage to Mecca.

Held by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), the training session focused on basic knowledge, disease control and prevention, first aid, especially the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebola virus.

Peng Mingqiang, deputy head of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, where the training session was held, said the session was a targeted training held after checks of health conditions of people who are going to Mecca.

The five-day session was attended by over 50 ethnic minority doctors from West China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, and other regions.

Li Ge, an official from SARA, said Hajj is China's largest regular foreign activity every year.

The pilgrimage is to Saudi Arabia, where the environment is hot and dry, and the population density in Mecca during Hajj is extremely high. In addition, pilgrims often have intense schedules, so health care work for Hajj is challenging, with many risks.

In the past five years, China made markable progress in health care service during Hajj. The SARA and China Islamic Association compiled a work manual of health care and disease prevention work during Hajj, and manual for treatment of common diseases during Hajj.

China's work has significantly decreased death and morbidity rates of severe illnesses of pilgrims, the SARA said.