Every year, as many as 2·5 million Muslims from more than 160 countries gather for the 5 3 To prevent infectious disease epidemics, every pilgrim must present a vaccination certifi cate to get a Hajj visa. Yet the Saudi MOH has to depend on health authorities in other countries to implement public health regulations reliably. This might not be a problem for high-income countries with established health systems, but low-income and middle-income countries, where most Muslim pilgrims come from, could need assistance to implement the strict regulations. Assistance can take many forms, including provision of training to strengthen public health systems in pilgrims' host countries.
The need for Saudi Arabia to share experience of international health system strengthening is recognised, 1 and global health diplomacy was suggested as a powerful tool to facilitate such a mission. 1, 4 In global health diplomacy, public health professionals and diplomats work together as a team in decision making on global public health issues. 5 To facilitate teamwork, diplomats and public health professionals need to be educated in an interdisciplinary environment that promotes shared learning and joint training to improve communication, collaboration, and cooperation. 5 The Hajj is an exceptional environment for such a model, 1 and Mecca Governor Prince Khalid Al-Faisal recently proposed to establish a Hajj University 6 to serve as a focal point. The University, to be in Mecca, will provide education, training, and research to improve Hajj services. The University could benefi t from the experience of the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, in global health diplomacy training, and other international and local public health institutes such as the Hajj research centre, the Saudi centre for disease control and prevention, and local universities. The proposed new University can be seen as an example of Saudi Arabian global health diplomacy, which could be benefi cial in sharing experience of international health system strengthening to control potential global public health hazards, such as poliovirus in Pakistan. 7
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Dammam, PO Box 31987, Al Khobar 31952, Saudi Arabia draljoudi@yahoo.com