Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Volume 91, Number 12, December 2013, 897-972http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/91/12/en/index.html
Editorial
Public health management of mass gatherings: the Saudi Arabian experience with MERS-CoV
Ziad A Memish & Abdullah A Al-Rabeeah
doi: 10.2471/BLT.13.132266
Excerpt
…Building on decades of experience, in October 2010 the Saudi Arabian health ministry established the Global Center for Mass Gathering Medicine, subsequently endorsed by health ministers of the League of Arab States. WHO’s Executive Board soon mandated a strategy for mass gatherings and established a framework to address the health challenges these entail.
The scientific and practical methods applied in mass gathering medicine, as the field is called, were examined during the Second International Conference on Mass Gathering Medicine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September 2013. The conference highlighted the importance of research and of drawing on the experience of states and regional and international organizations to control accidents and diseases during mass gatherings. The resulting Riyadh declaration calls for cooperation and information exchange between the Global Centre for Mass Gathering Medicine and other WHO collaborating centres and between states, international organizations and scientific centres, with due observance of patient confidentiality and medical ethics. It also states that global developments in the control of MERS-CoV transmission should be followed to inform arrangements for the hajj and other mass gatherings. Finally, it calls for the coordination of policies and procedures to better define the nature, methods and scope of mass gathering medicine and to launch media and educational campaigns for increasing awareness of the field. The conference acknowledged the media’s role in conveying accurate and unbiased health information and underscored the importance of relying on reputable sources; ensuring balanced, non-alarmist coverage based on scientific facts and mindful of public health ethics; and establishing benchmarks for the resources needed during mass gatherings.
The complex public health challenges posed by mass gatherings are best addressed through mutual trust and equitable partnerships and collaborations. In a globalized world, such collaborations inevitably extend beyond national and regional borders and hence require a fine balance between respect for national sovereignty, public health ethics and global health security priorities.
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