People planning to travel out of the country for various purposes must get the necessary vaccinations and counselling four to six weeks ahead of the travel date, a physician from the Travel Clinic at Hamad Medical Commission (HMC) has reminded.
“It is ideal to get the vaccination some four to six weeks ahead of the travel date to make sure that the vaccinations take effect on the body of the person concerned. Some of the vaccinations can even be taken two weeks ahead of the travel date. Two weeks can be a reasonable time but it is ideal for people to seek an appointment with the Travel Clinic some six weeks ahead of the travel date,” said Dr Mohamed Abdulla Abukhattab, senior consultant of travel medicine, Travel Clinic, Communicable Disease Center of HMC.
The travel clinic was opened in February 2017, becoming the first such facility at the corporation. The clinic was set up to provide necessary vaccines and provide pre-travel advice and post-travel treatment, if needed.
“The clinic provides travel counselling, assessing the need for vaccines as well as assessing the need for certain medications that can be used for prevention of some diseases such as malaria, sickness of high altitude or sea sickness, among others,” explained Dr Abukhattab.
“The Travel Clinic aims to inculcate the right travel culture in the population. We have to follow and take appropriate measures to prepare for travel. Unfortunately, we don’t have this culture. In European countries, they taken adequate measures to prepare for travel even before they book the ticket,” he highlighted.
The Travel Clinic at HMC is a self-referral facility and people can call and fix up an appointment. “We have currently three clinics and meet around 8-10 people a day. We started with one clinic and now we have three clinics. We are seeing about 30 people a week in all three clinics. This year, we have seen about 400 patients and number was the same last year, too. We are planning to increase the number of clinics,” the physician noted.
According to the official, the Travel Clinic has all the basic vaccines. “We have a number of vaccines that are available only in the Travel Clinic. Some medications are available only in the Travel Clinic while others are available in health centres as well as private facilities,” he added.
Dr Abukhattab advised that upon return from travel, people suffering from certain illnesses should consult the Travel Clinic. “If people suffer from fever, diarrhoea or skin rashes, they must consult the Travel Clinic. Generally, not many people come to the Travel Clinic even if they have such symptoms as they consult general physicians,” he added.