Evaluation of Health Requirements in Public Toilets during Hajj event

Omar B Ahmed*, Ibrahim Alkhaldy

ABSTRACT

Any successful event is judged on the adequacy and cleanliness of the toilet facilities. Approximately 2.5 million people from different parts of the world gathered in the holy sites (Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina) in Makkah. The toilets should be adequate in number, conveniently located, suitable for Hajj event and maintained in a clean and tidy manner. The study aimed to assess the mandatory health requirements for public toilets in the holy placesat Makkah city (Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina). An evaluation requirement checklist was made to evaluate the fulfillment of these requirements and whether they conform of local and international public toilet standards. Randomly 242toilets were selected and assessed for the availability of essential hygienic items most of them from Mina (44%) followed by Arafat and Muzdalifah. The results showed a lack in each of hand washing soap (99%) followed by hand drying methods (97%), posters or signs for hand washing (89%), exhaust fans (86%), sanitizers and disinfectants (81%) and lighting and ventilation (63%). There was statistically significant difference in place of the toilets (holy site) across hand washing station, washing soap,sanitizers (disinfectants) and Hand-drying methods. It was concluded that the provision of safe, accessible, hygienic, highly ventilated, well lighted and cleaned public toilets during Hajj ritualswould more likely to protect pilgrims against adverse health effects.

Keywords: Public toilets, holy places, Hajj event, Arafat, Muzdalifah, Mina crowd