Riyadh, Dhu-AlQa'dah 12, 1436,August 27, 2015,SPA --Undersecretary of Ministry of Health for laboratories and blood banks and chairman of the committee of laboratories and blood banks in Hajj, Dr. Ibrahim Alomar stressed that the Ministry of Health started its preparations for Hajj this year, since the last day of the Hajj season last year. This came during a press conference held in Riyadh yesterday in which he pointed out that the committee of laboratories and blood banks has implemented the plan consists of three stages, including the preparation phase starts with the end of the previous Hajj, the stage of equipment, and the operational phase which starts from the day 15/11/1436 AH, where managers of laboratories in Makkah and the holy sites receive their duties and full operation of the laboratories. He added that the committee of laboratories and blood banks works on three main tracks, with preparing laboratories in Makkah and the holy sites by necessary equipment for detection of diseases or epidemics, as well as making laboratories ready for routine tests to inpatients and outpatients in hospitals and health centers in the holy sites and Makkah, as well as providing blood and blood products for the Hajj season because of the large number of pilgrims, where the third track is assigned to toxins and chemistry. --SPA 13:34 LOCAL TIME 10:34 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w