//Ed. Note: When the Hejaz and its holy sites Mecca and
Medina were under Ottoman control, plague and cholera
were a constant menace, brought and spread by pilgrims
coming from around the world. In 1865 and 1893 tens of
thousands died from the diseases there.
This TNT report presents health instructions ordered by
Ottoman authorities for its health system in the Hejaz in
1914 and signed by Kasım İzzeddin, the long-serving head
of Ottoman health services in Iraq and the Hejaz.
Relatedly, in 1865-1866, two Ottoman navy ships reached
Basra after detouring to Brazil on the way. A crewmember
of the ship 'İzmir', Hasan Rami Paşa, later went on to
serve as Navy Minister in the early 1900s. After leaving
Basra in 1866 his ship was assigned to the Red Sea to
ferry Ottoman doctors to Kamaran Island and Hodeidah:
"Subsequently, I was assigned with the 'İzmir' to go to the Red
Sea in order to ferry doctors from Jidda to quarantine points
at Kamaran Island and Hodeidah where the doctors would
check Moslems coming from India for the Haj. In order to
reach Jidda, the 'Izmir' went via Muscat, Mukalla, Aden and the
Bab al Mandab entrance to the Red Sea. I served there for 3.5
years and then returned to Istanbul via the newly opened Suez
Canal (1869)."
Hodeidah is at lower right. Kamaran Island is the large one
at center of the map.
Hasan Rami Paşa click here for the related TNT
report
Hejaz Health Department
Instructions Regarding Hejaz Health Centers
1330 (1914)
1 - Four health centers have been established at Mecca, two at Jidda
and one each at Medina and Yanbu.
2 - One of the branches in Mecca will be in Jiyad, the second in
Şebike, the third in Mualla and the fourth in Taif. One of the branches
in Jidda is within the city and the other is in Bahrah. Medina and Yanbu
each have one health office.
3 - Within Mecca, health offices at Jiyad, Müsfile, Kaşaşiye and Sevülil
neighborhoods are tied to the Jiyad branch; Şebike, Şamiye, Haretülbab
and Jervel neighborhoods are tied to the Şebike branch; Karara,
Sülemaniye, Nakagaza, Şi'b and Muabda neighborhoods are tied to the
Mualla health office; Taif and its vicinity are tied to the Taif health office;
in Jidda, all neighborhoods are tied to the Jidda health office; in Bahrah,
all neighborhoods are tied to the Bahrah health office; and in Medina and
Yanbu all the neighborhood there are tied to the respective health
centers.
4 - At every center in the cities there will be a doctor, a doctor's
assistant and a health police team. At the Bahrah and Taif centers, there
will be a doctor, a pharmacist, a policeman and a nurse.
5 - At all heath centers, there will be ready-made medicines in either
powder or solution form in pills and packets; the requisite medicines
and disinfectants for first-response and emergency treatment; sufficient
medicines and equipment for patient transport, inoculations and
fumigation.
6 - At the Bahrah and Taif health centers, in addition to the materials
mentioned in the previous paragraph, there will be a pharmacy holding
other necessary medicines. At Bahrah there will be a 10-bed hospital.
7 - The doctor at each health center is the chief and is responsible for
implementing the Hejaz Health Administration regulations and for all
ongoing activities.
8 - Each morning, the health center doctor will inspect the markets
and streets to determine whether the regulations are being implemented;
whether there is a situation inimical to health; and issue orders to the
health police on duty, cleaning crews and neighborhood shaikhs. And
the Bahrah center doctor will supervize the settlement of pilgrims upon
their arrival in convoys at Bahrah.
9 - The center doctor will examine comestibles and drinks confiscated
by the police and on the related police report he will indicate either
"destroy" or "return to owner" and sign it.
10 - Around markets and streets tied to his center, the center doctor will
ensure transport to shelters for poor pilgrims, movement of the sick to
hospitals, burial of the dead, and immediate removal of animal
carcasses outside the city for burial.
11 - The center doctor will examine bodies found in the neighborhoods
tied to the center, prepare a burial document and enter a record in the
deaths register. At the end of each month he will provide statistics to
the health directorate and ensure that these statistics are well-ordered.
12 - The center doctor's assistant will assist the center doctor to manage
center affairs, examine patients and bodies, and serve in his place when
the center doctor is elsewhere.
Bahrah and Taif are to the left and right of Mecca.
13 - The pharmacists at Bahrah and Taif will fill prescriptions and
maintain medicines and equipment, while supporting the center doctor
in matters other than examining patients.
14 - The health centers will be open every day from sunrise to noon
and from three o'clock in the afternoon until sunset for applicants
and patients.
15 - Center doctors will examine patients at the aforementioned times
and send those who cannot be treated as out-patients to hospitals and
also administer inoculations, as necessary.
16 - Patients requiring emergency treatment will be accepted by center
doctors at all times at the center or the doctors will go to their homes.
17 - Ready-made drugs will be distributed to patients by the center
doctors as required. For other medicines, the center doctors will write
prescriptions. Patients will be advised that they can obtain their filled
prescriptions from the health offices in the cities and from the
pharmacies in Bahrah and Taif free of charge.
//END of PART I//
