How it works:
- Medical standard:
- Major cities have good private medical care and acceptable public health care.
- However, medical care in rural areas is basic.
- Diseases to watch out for:
- Insect borne diseases: chikunganya, dengue, zika, Japanese encephalitis, malaria, filariasis
- Food and water borne diseases: travellers’ diarrhoea, hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, melioidosis, leptospirosis
- Animal borne diseases: avian influenza, rabies
- Human borne diseases: tuberculosis, HIV, hand, foot and mouth disease
- Others: smoke haze in March to April
What to do:
- Get sufficient travel insurance:
- Emergency health services can cost a bomb
- Insurers can make complex logistical arrangements to get you the best medical treatment fast
- Check out these top travel insurance comparison platforms
- Vaccinations to consider:
- All travellers: measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, varicella (chickenpox) vaccine, polio vaccine, flu shot
- Most travellers: Hepatitis A, typhoid
- Some travellers: Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis (if visiting rural areas), rabies (outdoor activities, activities involving animals), malaria
- Prevent insect bites:
- Wear protective clothing
- Use insect repellents; insecticide treated bed/cot nets; plug-in insecticides
- Avoid wooded and bushy areas with high grass
- Food safety:
- Practise safe hygiene (e.g. washing hands with soap)
- Drink bottled water or water that has been boiled
- Avoid unpasteurised dairy products, ice cubes, uncooked and under-cooked food
Source:
- Centers for disease control and prevention
- U.S. Department of State travel advisory
- UK Government foreign travel advice
- Government of Canada travel advisory
- Australia Government travel advice
