The Role of Healthcare Sector in Crowd Management in Hajj and Umrah

Abstract

The aim of this research is to study the role of the health services sector in crowds management during the Hajj and Umrah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the Hajj and Umrah crowds represent pressure on all facilities in the cities of Makkah al-Mukarramah and Al Madena Al Monawara, including the facilities of the healthcare services. The crowds of pilgrims were expressed in the numbers of pilgrims during a time series (2010-2019), and the healthcare services sector was expressed in human and physical resources during the same time series (2010-2019). The growth function of variables over time was analyzed to analyze relationships for the variables, using Simple regression model, which is an exponential trend model. The most important results of the research were that the average growth rate in the number of pilgrims was -2.53% during the period (2010-2019), while the growth rates of the health care services sector resources during the period are much higher than the growth rates in the number of pilgrims. There was an increasing in growth of the number of hospitals at an average rate of 2.17%, there was an increasing in growth of the number of hospital beds at an average rate of 3.41%, there was an increasing in growth of the number of doctors at an average rate of 6.1%, there was an increasing in growth of the number of nursing staff at an average rate of 4.96%, There was an increasing in growth of the number of pharmacists at an average rate of 10.2%, and there was an increasing in growth of the number of health assistants at an average rate of 6.45%. It was possible to come up with a general conclusion that the health care services sector in the KSA is growing at faster rates than the growth rates of pilgrims, and therefore it is able to provide health services to crowds of pilgrims in the future with increasing efficiency.