Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board will, tomorrow, begin medical screening and vaccination exercise for the 2024 hajj intending pilgrims. The board’s Secretary, Saheed Onipede, disclosed this, at the weekend, in a statement by the Public Affairs unit of the board.
He said that medical officials from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) would screen the pilgrims for diabetes, malaria, typhoid, Hepatitis B, pregnancy tests and so on, while officials from Port Health Service (PHS) in the Federal Ministry of Health would vaccinate them against polio, meningitis, and yellow fever.
The screening, which would be carried out on council basis, starts at 8.00 a.m. daily from Tuesday, April 30 and ends May 9, 2024, at the Shamsi Adisa Thomas Mosque Hall, Old Secretariat, GRA, Ikeja.
According to the schedule, intending pilgrims from Agege, Amuwo-Odofin, Badagry and Mushin local councils would be screened and vaccinated on Tuesday, April 30. It would be the turn of AjeromiIfelodun, Eti-Osa, Kosofe and Oshodi Isolo on May, 2 while Alimosho, Epe, Ifako-Ijaiye and Lagos Mainland would have theirs on Monday, May 6, 2024.
Intending pilgrims from Apapa, Surulere, Ikeja and Lagos Island shall be vaccinated on Tuesday, May 7. Shomolu, Ojo and Ikorodu would have their turn on Wednesday, May 8, while all outstandings and leftovers would be attended to on Thursday, May 9, 2024 respectively.
The statement added that collection of results and consultations by medical doctors shall also go on simultaneously at the venue. Onipede, who urged the pilgrims to make themselves available for the screening exercise, warned that any pilgrim that fails to appear for the screening would forfeit the chances of performing the hajj rites through the state.
He also noted that the exercise would help them to know their health status and afford the doctors the opportunity to prescribe appropriate drugs and manage them effectively during their stay in the Holy Land.
In the same vein, the board has started the distribution of two types of Ankara (Aso-ebi) to the intending pilgrims through their respective coordinators.
Onipede said that one of the fabrics would be worn by them during the one-day seminar at De-Blue Roof, Lagos Television (LTV) ground, Ikeja, and on departure to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while the second type shall be worn on their return trip to Nigeria after completing the hajj rites.
