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Travel advice vaccinations and anti-malarials from the Telegraph.co.uk 20th October 2008.
11/11/2008
MindThe Gap Year believe in
preparing thoroughly for your trip abroad includinghaving all your necessary vaccinations, don't
forget there is a section withinyour Personal Travel Planner where you can make a note to remember
to do this.
In the meantime
MTGY advise you to read the followingarticle.
Long-haul travel is expensive enough without the added costs of vaccinations and anti-malaria tablets. But are you paying more than you need to?
A reader from York tells me how she took her gap-year son to get his jabs before a trip to Brazil. As he was planning to travel through rural areas, he needed various shots, including typhoid, hepatitis A, yellow fever and rabies. “We were in a hurry, so we went to a private clinic. At the end of the appointment, I was handed a bill for more than £250. The anti-malaria tablets alone cost £25 for a 50-tablet box,” she says.
However, had her son been given his vaccinations by a nurse at his local surgery, this reader would have saved well over £100. GPs don’t usually charge for immunisation against typhoid and hepatitis, and charge less for yellow fever and rabies than the private clinics. Other vaccinations commonly needed for long-haul travel, such as polio and meningitis, are also sometimes offered free on the NHS (although some GPs may ask you to pay a prescription charge).
There are also big price differences when it comes to malaria pills. Malarone cost £2.64 per tablet at my local surgery, compared with £3.95 at the Trailfinders Travel Clinic. Doxycycline cost 28p each compared with 50p each if bought privately. As this reader discovered, the private clinics usually make you buy in bulk, so you can end up with more than you need for your trip. However, it's up to individual surgeries to set prices so while you’re likely to save money by visiting your local GP, the final bill will vary from practice to practice.
Cost apart, there are several good reasons for using a commercial travel clinic. For a start, they are usually located in convenient city-centre spots that are easier to get to in a lunch hour or after work than the local surgery; and you don’t have to make an appointment.
Another plus point is that the clinics are more likely to keep the large amounts of more unusual vaccinations in stock and are more likely to be up-to-date with their knowledge of what you need in specific parts of the world.
Below are eight points to consider if you need travel vaccinations.
- Think ahead. Some vaccinations need to be administered at least six weeks before you travel – this is crucial if you’re buying last-minute long-haul holidays, as you’ll have to give yourself enough time for jabs to take effect before departure.
- For short trips you’ll probably just need one visit, but some vaccines, such as rabies, need up to three appointments.
- Get free advice. The Department of Health and NHS websites give a link to a useful travel information site called www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk. This offers information on specific countries, as well as up-to-date malaria maps and advice on current outbreaks.
- Information is also available from the Travellers’ Healthline Advisory Service at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (020 7950 7799: www.thehtd.org), the Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk) and the National Travel Health Network and Centre (www.nathnac.org).
- Buy a personal brief. You can download a customised brief from the MASTA website (09068 224100; www.masta-travel-health.com), which offers an online travel health brief at £3.99 for immediate, up-to-date information for up to 10 countries.
- Once you have a list of the inoculations you will need, compare the prices charged by your GP and private clinics. It’s also worth checking how much your local chemist charges for malaria tablets as it may offer the most competitive price. Then talk through your needs with your surgery nurse.
- If you need jabs at very short notice, a private clinic may be your best bet. To find your nearest clinics, contact the Trailfinders Travel Clinic (020 7938 3999; www.trailfinders.com), MASTA (see contact details above) or see listings on The Travel Doctor (www.traveldoctor.co.uk)
- There’s usually a charge of at least £15 for an initial consultation at a private clinic, but this will be refunded if you buy vaccinations.
