A pharmacist is urging people to look over their travel insurance before going on holiday, as one simple miss could cost you a lot of money and leave you without valid insurance
As autumn and winter is here to stay along with the colder weather, some people might look to travel a bit further in order to enjoy some sunshine and warm temperatures.
However, when travelling further, there are more risks involved, such as getting sick from new illnesses. Because of this, opting to get travel insurance can be a great way to save money and have protection if the worst happens, such as theft or someone getting ill. However, one nurse has now urged people to make sure to do one thing before travelling, as it could risk making your travel insurance invalid.
Taking to Instagram, pharmacist Virginia Chachati has responded to a viewer’s question about travel insurance, and whether or not it can be invalid if you don’t have the recommended travel vaccines for your holiday destination.
“If you go without getting the recommended vaccines on GOV.ORG, then your travel insurance will be invalid,” the question read.
“So this is somewhat true,” Virginia said, before explaining her answer further.
Firstly, she urged people to make sure the travel insurance they get do also contain some kind of health insurance that would cover the cost if you do get ill, or if you have some sort of medical emergency when abroad. This will then often pay for things like hospital visits, medications, or anything else you might need.
“Now, if you get ill and the illness is caused by a disease that could have been prevented through something like a vaccine, then your travel health insurance might not cover you,” she went on to say. “And this is different to what the recommendations are on GOV.UK website.”
She went on to say if you’re going somewhere, such as Brazil, where you need to have the yellow fever vaccine before even being allowed into the country, then the GOV.UK’s website would tell you this.
However, the government also has a website called Travel Health Pro, where you can check to see which vaccines that is recommended that you get before you go to a specific country.
“And so if you are getting travel insurance, make sure that it includes actual travel health insurance as well,” she said.
“And make sure that you get the vaccines, which prevent you from getting ill from diseases like rabies, hepatitis B, yellow fever. And there are also new vaccines for things like dengue fever and also chikungunya,” she added.
She went on to share more things you can do during your holiday in order to help prevent you getting any similar illnesses, including avoiding mosquito and tick bites, and trying your best to make sure you have clean water, and are not eating foods that have been contaminated with things like hepatitis A.
“So I hope you have a safe trip,” she said, before urging people to speak to a medical professional, such as a pharmacist, nurse or doctor, before their holiday to make sure they have all the vaccines and have done all the precautions they can to avoid getting ill.
If you want to find out more about recommended vaccines and health precautions for different countries, visit the government’s Foreign travel advice website, or the Travel Health Pro website to learn more. You should also speak to a pharmacist or a GP to book in your vaccinations.