The Emergence of Hajj Stampedes: Lessons for Hajj Trauma Centers

The Hajj pilgrimage is one of the most important obligations of Muslims. Hajj is the 2nd largest annual gatherings in the world after the Arbaeen pilgrimage to Karbala. Many of the health risk factors during the Hajj can be prevented or controlled. Evidence Acquisition: 17 available papers pertaining to the Hajj pilgrimage from 2000 to 2016 were aggregated, coded and used in the current study. The data were collected from the ISI web of knowledge, Scopus, Google Scholar, Lancet, PubMed, MEDLINE, Wiley, Highwire and EMBASE. The search strategy included the Hajj pilgrimage and trauma centers or Islamic ethics, Islamic rights, and accreditation.

On average 1,379,500 pilgrims from 188 different countries as well as 800,000 from Saudi Arabia visited Mecca every year. The health risk factors classified categories included communicable and noncommunicable diseases. A total 2,431 people died and 427 were missing from 42 countries according to latest reports of the Hajj stampede in 2015.

Recent studies pertaining to Hajj had emphasized standard reforms to prevent future incidents during the Hajj rituals.