As the number of Australians travelling overseas increases, so do the number of travellers who become ill – sometimes fatally.
There are many things you can do to ensure you are a healthy traveller, and your local pharmacy can assist with these preparations. First of all, visit your general practitioner for a thorough check-up to ensure there are no underlying health issues, which may affect your travels. Then ask your local pharmacist or look for a pharmacy offering travel advice services or travel clinics. They can advise on issues such as vaccinations, travelling with medicines, and treating common travel illnesses.
It can be difficult to buy medicines and first aid supplies in countries where you do not speak or read the language. Your pharmacist can provide recommendations for over-the-counter medicines and first aid supplies which are useful to take with you.
Your local pharmacy can supply you with other useful items such as:
- rehydration fluid and anti-diarrhoea medicine
- anti-nausea medicine
- sunscreen and insect repellent
- items for the plane including ear plugs, eye drops for dry eye, compression garments
- basic pain relief
- allergy medicine
- wound care products
- foot care products.
You can get more detailed information on travel health from the Self Care Fact Card titled Travel health available from pharmacies providing the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Self Care health information, or Ask Piggotts!
Throughout July we are offering a FREE trial of the Websterpaks dosage aids (pictured). Make life easier for yourself and let us do the work for you. We can organise your medicine to suit you best in Weekly, Fortnightly or Monthly packs. Interested? Please drop in to ask more.