The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has reported that three Nigerian pregnant women who participated in the just-concluded Hajj pilgrimage in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, had miscarriages.
Another woman with a pregnancy gave birth successfully, as nine pilgrims from the country died during the religious obligation.
NAHCON Ta Tabbatar da Tsaro Bayan Gobara a Masaukin Alhazai
However, the commission faced tough times attending to 15 pilgrims who had psychiatric illnesses.
The head of NAHCON’s medical team, Sani Garba, revealed these during the post-Hajj review meeting held in Mecca on Tuesday, June 10.
Garba said the medical teams attended to 15,186 pilgrims for various health conditions, with at least 15 acute psychiatric cases.
“We really had difficulty managing over 15 patients who have acute psychiatric illnesses. It’s challenging for us,” he said.
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Garba noted that the biggest challenge his team encountered was limited access to antipsychotic medication in Saudi Arabia.
“We were not allowed to purchase these drugs. We only take our patients to Saudi hospitals for a shot and return them,” he said.
Garba explained that some patients had a family history of psychiatric conditions and were unable to access their prescribed medications, as they were not permitted to bring them into the holy land.
It’s quite challenging, so we are calling on the management to take up this issue,” he pleaded.
He went on, “We manage our patients under 2,012 offices scattered all over the tents where our medical team rendered service to our pilgrims. 6,340 were male and 4,546 were female,” he said.
The ICIR reports that the 2025 Hajj, which ended on Monday, 9 June, started on Wednesday, 4 June, with over 1.67 million pilgrims worldwide performing the sacred rites.
According to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, the number of deaths recorded during the 2025 Hajj was lower compared to 2024, with no fewer than 30 Nigerian pilgrims losing their lives during the last year’s pilgrimage.
ICIR