Indonesia's Hajj Pilgrim Death Toll Drops in 2022, Lowest in a Decade

Almost every year, hundreds of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims die while performing the pilgrimage in the Holy Land. However, according to data from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), the death toll decreased last year.

Throughout 2022, the ratio of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims who died reached 0.89 per thousand pilgrims (permil). This figure decreased significantly compared to 2019, which had a ratio approximately twice as high, at 1.96 permil.

The number of deaths among Indonesian Hajj pilgrims in 2022 was also the lowest in the last decade, as shown in the graph above.

In 2020-2021, the death toll was zero because no Indonesian Hajj pilgrims went to the Holy Land, impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic mobility restrictions imposed by the Saudi Arabian government.

For the 2023 Hajj pilgrimage season, the Ministry of Health is preparing an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) to reduce the risk of pilgrim deaths.

"One of the strategies for Hajj health this year is that we are preparing specialist doctors as EMTs stationed in each sector, so that medical emergencies can be handled more quickly," said Head of the Hajj Health Center Liliek Marhaendro Susilo in his press release on Thursday (18/5/2023).

The EMT team will consist of 15 specialist doctors from the fields of anesthesiology, internal medicine, surgery, neurology, and cardiology. In addition, there are also 12 general practitioners and 43 emergency room/ICU nurses.

These doctors are on standby to provide health services in 5 working sectors in Madinah and 11 working sectors in Mecca, close to the Hajj pilgrim accommodations.

EMTs are also on standby at several special sector posts, namely the Nabawi Mosque, Syib Amir Terminal of the Grand Mosque, Arafah, and Mina.

"This aims to facilitate access for Hajj pilgrims to health services, especially emergency conditions that cannot be handled by Hajj health workers in the group," said Liliek.

"Our EMTs are on standby to always follow the movement of Hajj pilgrims during the pilgrimage, especially during the Armuzna phase (Arafah, Muzdalifah, and Mina)," he continued.

The EMT will also collaborate with the First Aid Crisis Handling Team for Hajj Pilgrims (PKP3JH), the Hajj Pilgrim Protection Team (Linjam), and the elderly services from the Ministry of Religion.

"With this commitment to synergy, it is hoped that efforts to handle medical emergencies can be carried out more optimally," said Liliek.