DPR Urges Early Health Screening for Hajj Pilgrims, One Year Before Departure

Chairman of Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Marwan Dasopang, has urged that the health eligibility (istitha’ah) of prospective Hajj pilgrims be determined early, accompanied by health coaching for a full year before departure. This is to ensure that pilgrims have the opportunity to meet the necessary health requirements. “We would like to entrust several matters domestically. The determination of health istitha’ah. Once we soon decide who will depart, one year before their departure, let us manage and look after the health of all pilgrims,” said Marwan Dasopang while opening the National Working Meeting for the Evaluation of the 2026 Hajj Pilgrimage at the Pondok Gede Hajj Dormitory in Jakarta on Saturday. Marwan proposed that after prospective pilgrims are confirmed as participants, the government should immediately establish their health istitha’ah status and provide continuous health assistance until the departure date. According to him, this step is crucial so that no prospective pilgrim feels neglected or learns they do not meet the health requirements just before departure. “So that no one feels ignored or even wronged. When they are about to leave and undergo a health check, they fail,” he said. He added that if a prospective pilgrim has received optimal health coaching and care for a year but still fails to meet the health requirements, that outcome can be accepted as an unavoidable decree. “But if we have cared for and managed them for a year and they fail, then that is their destiny,” Marwan concluded.