Medical Advice
See your doctor for accurate and current advice on inoculation requirements
and any recently recognized medical precautions.
• Malaria
•
Caused by an infected mosquito
•
Occurs all year round in
Zambia
•
Worst time of year: mid
February to end of June – but the risk is year round
•
Best precautions:
Take anti-malarial prophylactics. Find out from your doctor or chemist
which one is the best for the area you intend visiting. Also: cover
up in the early evening and at night: wear long trousers and sleeves.
Use reliable insect repellents (30% plus deet-based). For more info,
see the CDC,
Department
of Health (UK) and MedicinePlanet
• Diarrhoea
•
Food preparation
and presentation in some of the remotest camps is better than the
fare you'll get in many First World cities. This is a practical problem
for tummies no longer at home so just be sensible about what you eat
and drink, and bring suitable medication in case.
• Sunburn
•
The African sun is harsh
- even in winter (between May and August in the southern hemisphere)
•
Bring strong sunscreen,
a hat and something to cover your legs if you plan on doing canoeing.
Bad sunburn can ruin a safari and cause skin cancer on the long run.
Medical
Services: Are generally good, even in the remotest camps - for
most minor mishaps. Should anything more serious happen, Johannesburg
(South Africa) is the only real option for immediate high care evacuation.
Ensure that you have adequate medical insurance.
Required inoculations: Hepatitis A and cholera for Zimbabwe,
Zambia and Botswana. If you've travelled from another country where
yellow fever occurs then you may be required to produce an International
Certificate of Vaccination when entering Zimbabwe, Zambia or Botswana.
(Yellow fever occurs in the north west of Zambia)
Some valuable web resources:
•
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention: Destination updates, reference
materials, current news, special needs travel info, travelling with
children, excellent checklist, hotline numbers...
•
MedicinePlanet:
San Francisco based team - premier health resource for travellers,
visit the Adventure Travel Center or get specific updates on the individual
African safari destinations...subscribe to this site...
•
US
State Department: medical information for Americans travelling
abroad, includes a very valuable listing of addresses of Med-Evac
and Travel Insurance companies plus additional regional tips etc.
•
British
Department of Health: Simple but comprehensive advice for British
subjects travelling abroad with extensive introductory material, planning
and treatment
Medical
Services: Are generally good, even in the remotest camps - for
most minor mishaps. Should anything more serious happen, Johannesburg
(South Africa) is the only real option for immediate high care evacuation.
Ensure that you have adequate medical insurance.