Travel Advice     

The burden of vaccine preventable diseases in Malta is under control where persons are in a state of equilibrium with locally occurring strains of micro-organisms.  However this equilibrium can be upset by travel to other destinations.  The risks associated with international travel are associated by the characteristics of the traveller including age, sex and health status and by characteristics of the travel including the destination, purpose and duration.  Hence forward planning is essential so that appropriate prevention measures and careful precautions can substantially reduce the risks of adverse health consequence.

The medical profession and travel industry can provide a great deal of help and advice however it is the traveller’s responsibility to seek help and take the advised precautions.  The Health Division offers the service of travel advice based on an assessment of risk for the individual traveller which takes into account the likelihood of catching a disease and how serious this might be.  Thus includes any necessary vaccinations and medications and precautions to be taken.  These services are offered through the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit and the Immunisation Centre.

A leaflet and booklet on travel health are being launched by the Health Division, which combine issues related to vaccine- preventable diseases with other travel health advice.

The leaflets and booklets are intended to be a useful guide to the general public by providing general travel health advice and directing the general public to the immunisation services and any relevant health services related to international travel. The booklet also gives an overview of specific-travel related diseases, with a focus on vaccine-preventable diseases and provides useful advice for prevention of these diseases. We need to ensure that travellers are made aware of the risks of travelling and the steps that they should take to minimise the risk of falling ill. The leaflets and the booklet also provide details of services related to travel health (e.g. National Immunisation Section, Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit, European Health Insurance Card entitlement unit etc)The leaflets will be available in both Maltese and English, and together with the booklet will be available in electronic version on the Disease Surveillance Unit website.