Report from: ZAUMS  Arbaeen Health & Treatment Committee
Published on:  13 October 2019

According to the Huffington Post, the Shia Muslim ritual of Arbaeen is the world"s largest religious gathering and it dwarfs every other rally on the planet. Arbaeen comes 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein (AS). Each year, a huge crowd of Shias flock to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rites.

Every year, a large number of Imam Hussein (PBUH) lovers and Shiites from Pakistan cross the Iranian border through the Mile 72 Border Terminal, located 10 kilometers from Mirjaveh, to join the Great Arbaeen Walk event. A total of 23 Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) from Zahedan University of Medical Sciences (ZAUMS), along with medical teams and public health mission have been stationed in the Iran-Pakistan border city of Mirjaveh to provide the Arbaeen pilgrims with medical and health services. Five of CHVs speak fluent Urdu language and they provide interpretation services and help in communicating with pilgrims and providing public health training.

As part of the International Health Regulations (IHR) protocol, the CHVs embark on intensified case finding with a focus on patients with malaria, acute watery diarrhea, and other febrile syndromes. The CHVs have already been trained how to use malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits and take stool samples for cholera.

The most important activities of CHVs that will be carried out during Arbaeen includes:

• Recruiting Community Health Volunteers among Pakistani pilgrims

• Face-to-face and group public health training in Urdu

• Assistance in providing medical and public health services such as checking blood pressure, blood sugar and dressing and injections.

• Helping in collecting waste at the pilgrims camping site in Mirjaveh Border Terminal and Imam Reza (AS) Pilgrim House in Zahedan

• Infectious diseases case detection and referral to treatment units

• Participation in providing water and food sanitation and environmental management

• Establishing a polling stations at the pilgrims camping site in Mirjaveh Border Terminal and Imam Reza (AS) Pilgrim House in Zahedan and completing pilgrims survey forms

Copyright © 2019 Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved. Date updated: 10/13/2019.
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