RIYADH – The authorities in Saudi Arabia have advised against travel to 25 countries including Pakistan.
The travel advisory was issued on Tuesday by the Saudi Ministry of Health citing health concerns over the prevalent infectious diseases and the quality of medical facilities available in these countries.
The list of countries includes India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Nepal, and Nigeria and the Saudi authorities have cited diseases such as dengue, cholera, polio, yellow fever, measles, monkeypox, malaria, COVID-19, and tuberculosis as reasons for the advisory.
Though the travel advisory has not been issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, still it has an impact as tourists and business people can postpone their plans to visit any of these countries.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, there is no considerable spread of the diseases elaborated above. Even the country has not witnessed a rise in Covid-19 cases for a long period.
Moreover, the authorities have not mentioned the time period for which this advisory would be in effect. It is expected that the advisory might be withdrawn or a fresh advisory might be issued as the situation improves as per the assessment of the Saudi health authorities.
