Travel health consultation

The flights are booked, the itinerary is taking shape — and somewhere on the to-do list sits “sort out travel health”, usually left far too late. A travel health consultation at a community pharmacy is the practical way to tick it off: a structured, personalised conversation about the vaccines, medicines and precautions your particular trip calls for, ideally well before you go. With many pharmacists now trained as immunisers, a lot of it can be handled in one place.

What is a travel health consultation?

It’s a pre-travel review tailored to you and your trip. Rather than generic advice, the pharmacist looks at where you’re going, when, for how long, what you’ll be doing and your personal health, then maps out what you need. A good consultation typically covers:

• Vaccinations — which are recommended or required for your destinations, including routine vaccines that may be due (like tetanus or measles), travel vaccines (such as hepatitis A, typhoid, or others depending on the region), and any with entry requirements.
• Malaria and insect-borne disease — whether antimalarial medicine is advisable for your route, and how to avoid mosquito bites that spread malaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis and Zika.
• Travellers’ diarrhoea and food and water safety — how to reduce your risk and what to pack to manage it.
• A personalised travel health kit and advice on managing existing conditions and medicines abroad.
• Other risks relevant to your trip — altitude, motion sickness, jet lag, sun and heat, and safe behaviour.

The earlier you go, the better: ideally six to eight weeks before departure, because some vaccines need more than one dose over several weeks to be fully effective. That said, a consultation is still worthwhile even close to departure — there’s almost always something useful to do.

Who is it for?

A travel health consultation suits anyone heading overseas, and it’s especially important for higher-risk trips: travel to developing regions, rural or remote areas, long stays, visiting friends and relatives (a group who often skip travel health but can be at higher risk), backpacking, volunteering or aid work, and travelling with a chronic medical condition, while pregnant, or with young children.

The pharmacist will ask about your itinerary, your vaccination history, your medical conditions and medicines, allergies, pregnancy, and what kind of trip you’re taking. From there they tailor the advice.

Some situations are best referred to a GP or a specialist travel medicine clinic — for example, complex itineraries, significant underlying health conditions, pregnancy, travel involving high-altitude trekking, certain vaccines a pharmacist can’t provide, or yellow fever vaccination, which in Australia must be given at an approved yellow fever vaccination centre. The pharmacist will tell you when a clinic or doctor is the better option.

How it works at the pharmacy

In a private area, the pharmacist works through your trip and history and gives you a clear plan: which vaccines you need and when, whether you need antimalarials, what to put in your travel kit, and how to manage your usual medicines overseas (including carrying them correctly with documentation). Where they’re trained immunisers, they can give many of the recommended vaccines on the spot or across a couple of visits, and record them on the Australian Immunisation Register. They can also supply or recommend practical items — oral rehydration salts, motion-sickness remedies, insect repellent, sunscreen and a basic first-aid kit.

Most travel vaccines and antimalarials are private (paid) rather than subsidised, so the pharmacist will be upfront about costs. They’ll also point you to Smartraveller, the Australian Government’s official travel advice service, for up-to-date destination information and to subscribe to alerts. Phone ahead to confirm the pharmacy offers travel health services and which vaccines it stocks.

Safety and practical tips

• Start early — six to eight weeks out — so multi-dose vaccines have time to work.
• Carry a record of your vaccinations and a letter for any prescription medicines, kept in your hand luggage.
• Check Smartraveller for your destinations and take out travel insurance that covers your activities and any pre-existing conditions.
• Know the basics of avoiding insect bites and unsafe food and water — they prevent far more illness than any single vaccine.
• See a doctor before you go if you have a significant health condition, and seek medical care promptly if you become unwell during or after travel (mention where you’ve been).

How it’s regulated in Australia

Travel health services in pharmacy combine pharmacist advice with vaccination under state and territory immunisation rules, which set out which vaccines pharmacist immunisers can administer and to what ages. Pharmacists complete accredited immunisation training, record vaccines on the Australian Immunisation Register, and are registered with the Pharmacy Board of Australia. Travel advice itself draws on the Australian Immunisation Handbook and government sources. Availability of specific vaccines varies between pharmacies and states.

Official sources

• Smartraveller: before you go (health)
• Australian Immunisation Handbook: vaccination for international travellers
• Healthdirect: travel health

Phone ahead and book early. Use the button below to find a pharmacy listing a travel health consultation near you.