Travel health

You should visit your doctor or a travel clinic at least eight weeks before your trip, so you can ensure you have enough time to take any necessary health precautions and get any required vaccinations. It’s essential to take into consideration your personal medical history before travelling, so you should book a visit to your doctor or make an appointment via a MASTA Travel Clinic or CityDoc.org who have branches throughout the UK.

Before you travel, it's also important to visit the FCO travel advice and to check the 'health' and 'entry requirements' advice for each destination you're visiting.

Vaccinations

Remember that some vaccinations might require more than one visit with a period of weeks between injections, and some may be incompatible with certain medicines or medical conditions. Public Health England's site TravelHealthPro indicates any health risks for your destinations so that you can take the right precautions. You can also find advice on the NHS Fit For Travel site which lists the specific vaccines you need to consider for each destination.

Zika virus

If you’re pregnant or thinking of getting pregnant soon after your trip, we recommend you check NHS Fit for Travel, or Centre for Disease Control & Prevention to see the risk of the Zika virus in your destination. There is no vaccination for Zika, so in some countries, pregnant women are advised not to travel.

Travelling with medicines

Don't forget to pack enough of your prescription medicine to last for your trip, and to carry all your medication in its original pharmacy-issued packaging. It’s a good idea to bring a letter from your GP giving details of the drug along with the generic (i.e. non-branded) name for your medicines and you're also advised to bring along a copy of your prescription and keep both in your hand luggage. There's more detailed advice about travelling with medicines at TravelHealthPro and via the NHS's common health questions.