Hajj Pilgrim Vaccine Certification Capability Expanded

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) announced a new milestone digital health collaboration today to expand the Hajj health card initiative to support the roughly 3 million pilgrims who undertake the holy pilgrimage every year.

The card empowers pilgrims to provide authorized health providers access to accurate, up-to-date patient summary information and obtain personalized quality care.

For Hajj 1445, mandatory vaccinations included COVID-19, Influenza, and Meningococcal.

The Hajj health card is built on the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN) public key infrastructure. It securely summarizes critical health information, such as medication needs, allergies, immunization status, and pre-existing conditions.

The GDHCN launched in 2023 and now includes over 80 WHO Member States that have established systems to verify the authenticity of health information between each other, leveraging a new global ISO standard.

The GDHCN's digital capabilities include verifying vaccinations, the International Patient Summary, vaccination certificates within and across borders, and certification of public health professionals through the WHO Academy. 

The WHO and Saudi Arabia also agreed to collaborate further to improve and expand upon the successful pilot program for the Hajj health card. The expertise and support from the Saudi government and their digital implementing partner, LEAN, will enable increased data security and essential technical support to additional countries joining the Hajj health card program.

"This exciting partnership between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the WHO to expand the Hajj health card initiative enhances the safety and well-being of millions of pilgrims," said Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, in a press release on October 21, 2024.

In June 2023, the WHO endorsed the European Union digital certification system, which has been issued to over 2 billion people across 51 countries.

As of October 2024, the U.S. CDC recommends people visiting the KSA speak with a travel vaccines expert regarding options such as yellow fever, polio, and malaria.