The longer the queue, the older people (become by the time they) get to perform HajjJakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (PMK), Muhadjir Effendy, will open a discourse on prohibiting the performance of multiple Hajj in order to cut down queues and waiting time.
"The longer the queue, the older people (become by the time they) get to perform Hajj," he explained in a statement released on Friday.
Based on data from the 2023 Hajj organization, 43.78 percent of the 22,900 Hajj pilgrims were older than 60 years, while the number of Indonesian pilgrims who died was recorded at 774, or 3.38 percent, and they were dominated by the elderly, he informed.
The data also showed that elderly pilgrims had a 7.1 times greater risk of death than non-elderly pilgrims.
Effendy said that the most common causes of death were sepsis (an infection that causes organ failure), cardiogenic shock (a condition where the heart fails to pump blood), and coronary heart disease.
While performing Hajj once is mandatory, opportunities for going on the pilgrimage must be passed down to those who have not yet performed it, the minister added.
He said he hopes that the idea of prohibiting multiple Hajj can help reduce queues and provide opportunities for people to make the pilgrimage before they become old.
"This discourse needs to be discussed because elderly pilgrims tend to have health implications," he explained.
Therefore, he urged related parties to transform Hajj implementation to maintain the health of pilgrims until they return to their respective regions.
Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas officially closed the 1444 Hajj pilgrimage service on August 5. At the time, 77 Indonesian Hajj pilgrims were undergoing treatment at a Saudi Arabian Hospital. While 26 of them died, eight others were allowed to return to Indonesia.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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