{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T12:08:37Z","timestamp":1789042117712,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]],"date-time":"2025-06-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748822400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic required strong public health measures globally. Saudi Arabia\u2019s effective pandemic management, leveraging its experience with mass gatherings such as the Hajj pilgrimage, has been lauded globally. This study was developed using a narrative synthesis approach, based on a structured review of peer-reviewed literature (PubMed and Scopus) and official sources (Saudi MoH and the WHO) covering March 2020\u2013December 2024. This study examines Saudi Arabia\u2019s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with particular emphasis on the strategies implemented to safeguard the Hajj pilgrimage. The analysis is framed within the context of the World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) COVID-19 After Action Review pillars, providing a structured evaluation of the Kingdom\u2019s efforts to mitigate risks and protect both pilgrims and the broader population. Topics covered include country-level coordination, risk communication, surveillance, border health, national laboratory systems, infection prevention, case management, operational support, and essential health services. Findings show that preexisting infrastructure and mass-gathering expertise enabled rapid activation of multisectoral task forces, adaptive risk-communication campaigns, and scalable testing and isolation protocols. The Hajj legacy strengthened laboratory diagnostics and surge staffing, informed border screening algorithms, and guided large-event risk assessments. Integrating mass-gathering experience with WHO\u2019s framework fostered resilience to complex health emergencies. Saudi Arabia\u2019s model offers actionable insights for other nations seeking to harness cultural and organizational strengths in pandemic preparedness.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1520179","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]],"date-time":"2025-06-02T05:23:51Z","timestamp":1748841831000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The Hajj legacy and Saudi Arabia\u2019s exemplary response to COVID-19"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ghadah","family":"Alsaleh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bander","family":"Balkhi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmed","family":"Alahmari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anas","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1596\/978-1-4648-0527-1_ch17","article-title":"Pandemics: risks, impacts, and mitigation","volume-title":"Disease control priorities: Improving health and reducing poverty","author":"Madhav","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"352","DOI":"10.1111\/apm.13098","article-title":"Pandemics: past, present, future","volume":"129","author":"H\u00f8iby","year":"2021","journal-title":"APMIS"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1295","DOI":"10.3390\/jpm12081295","article-title":"Global challenges to public health care systems during the COVID-19 pandemic: a review of pandemic measures and problems","volume":"12","author":"Filip","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Pers Med"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1093\/jtm\/taaa157","article-title":"Estimating the COVID-19 risk during the Hajj pilgrimage","volume":"27","author":"Khan","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Travel Med"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1089\/hs.2020.0144","article-title":"COVID-19 mitigation plans during Hajj 2020: a success story of zero cases","volume":"19","author":"Jokhdar","year":"2021","journal-title":"Health Secur"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1350","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2022.09.006","article-title":"Hajj 2021: role of mitigation measures for health security","volume":"15","author":"Alahmari","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Infect Public Health"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"797","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.20-1563","article-title":"The Hajj and COVID-19: how the pandemic shaped the world\u2019s largest religious gathering","volume":"104","author":"Hashim","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg"},{"key":"ref8","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"121","DOI":"10.15537\/smj.2020.2.24875","article-title":"The Jeddah tool. A health risk assessment framework for mass gatherings","volume":"41","author":"Yezli","year":"2020","journal-title":"Saudi Med J"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"348","DOI":"10.1017\/S1049023X21000145","article-title":"Guidance for health risk assessment at recurrent mass gatherings: the Jeddah tool framework","volume":"36","author":"Bieh","year":"2021","journal-title":"Prehosp Disaster Med"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"779","DOI":"10.2147\/RMHP.S294885","article-title":"Risk communication effectiveness during covid-19 pandemic among general population in Saudi Arabia","volume":"14","author":"Almuzaini","year":"2021","journal-title":"Risk Manag Healthc Policy"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2023.12.029","article-title":"Legacy in global health security: insights from the 5th international conference for mass gatherings medicine","volume":"17","author":"Khan","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Infect Public Health"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1570","DOI":"10.26719\/emhj.20.129","article-title":"Implementing the health early warning system based on syndromic and event-based surveillance at the 2019 Hajj","volume":"26","author":"Bieh","year":"2020","journal-title":"East Mediterr Health J"},{"key":"ref14","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"261","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2022.01.006","article-title":"A combined model for COVID-19 pandemic control: the application of Haddon's matrix and community risk reduction tools combined","volume":"15","author":"Khan","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Infect Public Health"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2023.03.026","article-title":"Healthcare policies, precautionary measures and outcomes of mass gathering events in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: expedited review","volume":"17","author":"Alahmari","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Infect Public Health"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1114","DOI":"10.26719\/emhj.21.048","article-title":"COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: the national health response","volume":"27","author":"Khan","year":"2021","journal-title":"East Mediterr Health J"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e19338","DOI":"10.2196\/19338","article-title":"Digital response during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia","volume":"22","author":"Hassounah","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101692","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tmaid.2020.101692","article-title":"COVID-19 social distancing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: bold measures in the face of political, economic, social and religious challenges","volume":"37","author":"Yezli","year":"2020","journal-title":"Travel Med Infect Dis"},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100705","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jemep.2021.100705","article-title":"The impact of crisis and disasters risk management in COVID-19 times: insights and lessons learned from Saudi Arabia","volume":"18","author":"Jaziri","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ethics Med Public Health"},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101097","DOI":"10.1016\/j.imu.2022.101097","article-title":"The role of the COVID-19 pandemic in expediting digital health-care transformation: Saudi Arabia's experience","volume":"33","author":"Alkhalifah","year":"2022","journal-title":"Inform Med Unlocked"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Public Health"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1520179\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]],"date-time":"2025-06-02T05:23:52Z","timestamp":1748841832000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1520179\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]]},"references-count":21,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1520179"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1520179","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-2565"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-2565","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]]},"article-number":"1520179"}}