Travel Security Checklist - Medical and Health Risk Information

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Your trip may be across the state or around the world and the constant, regardless of where you travel is your health and wellbeing. Availability and access to medical care, whenever we are more than 100 miles from our doorstep should always be researched prior to initiating your trip.

Through our partnership with AlertsUSA.com we continue the expansion of their Travel Safety Checklist, with part three – Securely Travel Medical and Health Risk information.

Your Destination:

Research the health risks associated with your destination, as soon as you are able. Some locales will require immunization or medical prophylactic regimes start prior to arrival at your destination. This foreknowledge allows you to evolve, with your physician mitigation strategies.

Excellent online resources, beyond Securely Travel are:

CDC’s Travel Destination information website - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices;
CDC Travel Health Notices - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices; and
WHO Country Health Profiles - http://www.who.int/countries/en/

It is not always easy to collect all the different types of health information needed in preparing to travel. It is easy to ignore the advice as interesting but inconvenient. Please factor in having this foreknowledge may go a long way toward saving your life in a far-away land.

You’ll note that in the Securely Travel Briefs we spend a good bit of time highlighting medical and health crisis or emergencies as they occur around the world, pointing you to empirical information, with a presence on the ground at the locale which is being discussed. In addition, our country synopsis reports identify any highlighted diseases, as well as the presence and perception of medical care compared to that available in the United States.

Vaccinations/Immunizations:

If you are headed into less developed nations, it is crucial that you visit the CDC destination portal above to determine if vaccinations are recommended.

If so, it is best to get them out of the way quickly as some require multiple doses administered over days, weeks or even months. Examples include Hep A/B, Typhoid Oral, Yellow Fever and Japanese B Encephalitis.

Dating myself I remember when I had my immunization book and it was checked every time we entered or exited a country. Rare is the traveler who has their yellow immunization book available, but those traveling to areas where specific immunizations are recommended, such as cholera, yellow fever, etc, should absolutely get their immunizations AND document these.

Anti-Malarial Medication - Malaria transmission occurs in more than 100 countries, including large areas of Africa and Asia, parts of Central and S. America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and beyond. If your destination is in a malaria transmission area, contact your doctor. Check the CDC Malaria Maps. https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/travelers/about_maps.html

Ever wonder why Gin & Tonic was so popular in South Asia? I now during my years in India in the 1970s and again in the 1990s that Gin and Tonic was my drink of choice. The quinine, mixed with citrus, evolved to Tonic, and thus with one beverage, the consumer was taking their prophylactic against both malaria and scurvy. Many a tale exist of those who may have over medicated.

Yellow Fever Card - Many countries require a traveler, even if only in transit, to have a valid International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP), also known as a Yellow Card, to prove that you have had yellow fever vaccine. if he or she has been in a country with risk of yellow fever transmission (Sub-Saharan and Central Africa, most of S. America). Check the CDC Yellow Fever Maps: https://www.cdc.gov/yellowfever/maps/index.html

These are available at most pharmacy’s, and if your pharmacy can’t give you the Yellow Fever shot, they can point you to the one who can.

Travel / Medical Evac / Security Extraction Insurance – This is your backup plan in an uncertain world. Companies exist which combine premium travel insurance with medical evacuation and /or security extraction coverage for when things really go sideways.

The US Department of State emphasizes to travel with evacuation insurance because while they will assist you in a medical evacuation, the cost is 100% yours.

I’ve written a piece, “Be sure to have the right insurance” which discusses the different types of insurance a traveler might wish to consider. Trip insurance, health insurance and evacuation insurance (medical or unrest).

Air Ambulances are not cheap, and moving a patient from Mexico to the United States can cost tens of thousands of dollars, while moving one from Australia to the United States may well run over a hundred thousand dollars.

Useful CDC Travel Applications for Mobile Devices:

TravWell - Authoritative CDC destination-specific information on vaccine recommendations, checklists, customizable healthy travel packing list, keep a record of your medications and immunizations, emergency services phone numbers for every destination, etc. No data connection required.

CDC Yellow Book - Authoritative CDC destination-specific information on pre-travel vaccinations and preventative care guidelines, reference maps, tables, and more. Published every two years.

Securely Travel Destination Guides

We are in the process of creating travel synopsis which are available on our Country Brief’s page.

Want a specific country brief now?

Should you desire a specific country to move to the front of the queue, reach out to us at [email protected] – if we can accommodate we will, though we reserve the right to assess an administrative charge to jump the queue.

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