TRAVEL HEALTH ADVICE

CHECK THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE WEBSITE

This will give you up-to-date information about any new travel health risks in the country you are visiting as well as any risks from natural disasters or political upheavals. In some countries, the situation can change very quickly and the advice may also be different depending on what region you are planning to visit. 

GET TRAVEL INSURANCE

Travel health insurance is essential and will mean that, if illness or injury ruins your holiday, it does not also have a huge financial impact. Paying for healthcare abroad, and for the cost of being evacuated back to the UK, can be extremely expensive if you are not insured so take out a policy that covers every destination on your trip and every activity you plan to do. 

Many policies will also re-imburse you for the cost of your trip if you are unable to go because you fall unwell in the UK before you leave.

PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION

Make sure you have an adequate supply of prescription medication to maintain travel health. If you take regular medication for an underlying health condition then you should make sure you have enough to cover the entire trip and some extra in case of any delays on the way home. This may mean making an extra request for medication from your doctor. Most doctors are happy to provide this if you let them know you are travelling. 

You should keep medications in their original packets and, if your medications are controlled drugs or injectable, some countries and airlines require a letter from your doctor confirming that these are legitimately yours.

FIND OUT ABOUT VACINATIONS

Every country has different requirements for vaccinations. For some countries certain vaccines are mandatory (and this may still include having had a COVID-19 vaccine), but most vaccines are not mandatory but strongly recommended to protect you against illnesses that are not commonly encountered in the UK. 

You can find out what vaccines you need at a Travel Clinic, or visit the excellent website www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk which is provided by NHS Scotland and can tell you what jabs you need for each country. 

FIND OUT ABOUT MALARIA RISK

Malaria risk varies from country to country and from region to region within some countries. If you are travelling to a region where malaria is an issue, then you should be taking prophylactic medication to prevent you falling ill. 

There are a number of different medications that can be used for this and the one that is best for you depends on the type of malaria that is most common in that region. Anti-malarial medication can be obtained on private prescription from Travel Health Clinics and some online pharmacies. You should also invest in insect repellant and consider getting your own mosquito net if you are travelling to a malarial area – the best way to avoid getting malaria is to avoid getting bitten in the first place. 

BASIC MEDICAL KIT

Put together a basic travel health medical kit. If you become unwell, there is plenty that you can do for yourself. Having some simple treatments on hand is much preferable to trying to find medication whilst you are feeling unwell in an unfamiliar country.

Your kit should contain:

• Simple dressings/plasters.

• Paracetamol and/or ibuprofen.

• Antihistamines.

• Insect bite relief cream (usually containing hydrocortisone).

• Anti-diarrhoea medication e.g. Imodium

You may also want to include:

• Motion sickness tablets e.g. cinnarizine which can be bought over-the-counter at a pharmacy.

• Blister plasters if you plan to do a lot of walking.

• Oral rehydration sachets (e.g. dioralyte).

HAND HYGIENE

Practice good hand hygiene to maintain travel health. Washing your hands regularly will help to protect you against all kinds of respiratory and gastro-intestinal ailments. 

WATCH WHAT YOU EAT

Food poisoning is a common travel health problem whilst abroad. Try your best to assess the hygiene standard of anywhere you eat. Avoiding eating fresh salads in countries without a safe water supply as the vegetables may have been washed in unsafe water. For the same reason avoid ice cubes in these countries. Counter-intuitively, street food is often safe as it is cooked from fresh in front of you and eaten whilst still piping hot. 

A good rule of thumb is not to eat seafood in a developing country unless you can see the sea from which it has come – refrigeration chains may be unreliable and make the food unsafe if eaten further inland. 

WATCH WHAT YOU DRINK

Keep well hydrated but watch what you drink. In many countries tap water is not safe to drink so you should drink bottled water, ensuring that the seal has not been broken before you open it. If you are out in bars and nightclubs it is sensible to make sure you can see bottles of beer or other drinks being opened – it is not unheard of for drinks to arrive to tourists having been spiked.

AVOID GETTING BITTEN INSECTS

Apply insect repellent liberally, this is particularly important around dusk when biting insects are very active. You should also sleep under a net if there is a risk of malaria. 

PRACTICE SUN SAFETY

Practice travel health sun safety. Sunburn is unpleasant, potentially dangerous if severe enough, and will increase your risk of skin cancer in the future. You should regularly apply a high SPF sun cream, wear a hat, and aim to keep out of the sun during the hottest parts of the day (between 11am and 3pm). These same measures will help you to avoid heatstroke which can be life threatening at its worst. 

PRACTICE SAFE SEX

This, of course, is also true in the UK but people’s inhibitions tend to be lower when on holiday. You should also be aware that in many countries the risk of blood borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis is much higher. You should always use a condom.

MEDICAL KIT CONTENTS

Diarrhoea Medication 

This is very common and usually lasts a few days. The most important thing is to keep hydrated by sipping plenty of water. This is particularly important if you are in a hot country. You may also wish to use oral rehydration sachets to help with this. It used to be advised to ‘let it all run through’ but there is no need to do this. It is perfectly safe to use something like Imodium to slow the diarrhoea down, particularly if you need to make a journey on a bus, train or plane. You should seek help if you have severe abdominal pain, have blood in your motions, or have become so dehydrated that you are no longer passing urine or feel faint when standing.

Insect bites medication

If you get bitten the best thing to do is to take an antihistamine and apply bite relief cream. These two things should help with the itch and reduce the swelling. If the swelling and redness of the bite are worsening and spreading instead of improving, then you need to get it checked as the bite might have become infected.

Feverish illness medication

Most fevers will be caused by common viral illnesses, the same as when you are in the UK. You can manage these with paracetamol and fluids. You need to be more cautious if you are in a country with malaria or other tropical diseases as a fever may be a sign that you have contracted one of these illnesses.

LOCAL DOCTOR

If your illness is something that can’t be managed with the above simple measures then get help and use your travel health insurance. 

Most hotels are very used to getting local doctors to see to visitors and these doctors are usually familiar with dealing with insurance providers. In big resorts there is often a doctor or nurse on site who can look after you.