The question of compliance with the rules prescribed by medicine in tourist trips is very important, and life itself demonstrates this every year. According to who, more than 1,000 cases of plague, 100,000 cases of cholera and many more cases of tropical malaria are reported worldwide each year. In Russia, the number of malaria cases is increasing every year, including fatal cases. The number of cases of importation of tropical helminthiasis by tourists has increased dramatically. Every year, serious infectious diseases in Russia are registered in several million people, of which about 10 thousand people die. A significant proportion of dangerous infections are imported from abroad.
As international practice shows, travel abroad is becoming increasingly risky. According to the materials of the London press, every fifth tourist leaving Europe abroad, either falls ill or finds himself in a situation from which he leaves not without damage to his health. Holiday week magazine surveyed 16,000 people. people who made overseas trips, and it turned out that tourists who received during the trip any injuries, was twice as much, about 15% of tourists during the trip get sick, and the greatest risk zone is tropical countries, for example, 60% of tourists during a visit to India fell ill, and primarily intestinal disorders.
It should be borne in mind that in the materials of the WTO and who, the boundaries of continents and different zones in which infectious quarantine diseases (yellow fever, cholera and others) are common, differ significantly from the usual purely geographical:
EUROPE-in addition to Western countries includes the CIS States, the entire territory of Russia, as well as Cyprus, Iceland, Malta and Turkey;
AMERICA-North, Central and South America, but without Hawaii; South America South of the Panama canal zone;
AFRICA-Azores, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Egypt, Madagascar, Madeira, Sudan;
ASIA Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Yemen;
AUSTRALIA-including Tasmania;
OCEANIA-including Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, all Islands in the Pacific ocean;
Caribbean ISLANDS - Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Barbuda, Bonaire, British virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nevis, Puerto Rico, Sabu, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Estatius, Saint Kitts, Santa Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, TRINIDAD and Tobago, U.S. virgin Islands.
Preparation of tourists for travel and their behavior during the trip should comply with the recommendations of who and WTO. In document no. A / 7 / 13 of the seventh session of the WTO General Assembly, under the heading "Safety and security of tourists and tourist sites", it is stated that "the paragraphs of this document have been revised in accordance with new who information. Prevention of various diseases should include education for tourists (e.g. in cases of AIDS), vaccination (e.g. against yellow fever), and preventive treatment (e.g. in the case of malaria)."
The tenth WTO Assembly pointed to the need to seek full support for measures relating to the protection of tourist health, travel safety and sanitary control of food. The Assembly called on national tourism administrations to work closely with the health authorities of their countries to provide medical tourism information to all stakeholders and travel agencies. In order to inform tourists and protect consumers, the Assembly recommended that public authorities and the operational tourism sector harmonize their rules in the light of the document "Medical information and formalities in international travel".
To this end, who publishes the following documents:
- "Requirements for the certificate of vaccination when traveling abroad", which are a practical guide for tourist organizations and tourists themselves;
- "Epidemiological Yearbook" and recommendations designed to reduce the spread of dangerous infections, including in the process of making tourist trips.
Who has working agreements with WTO, under which current information on formalities related to sanitary control is published in the WTO annual publication "Foreign tourism - border formalities".
The who international health regulations have been in force since 1951 and are subject to periodic changes and amendments.
In who documents and the International certificate of vaccination (International Certificates of Vaccination) dates must be specified in the following order: day, month, year, and the name of the month should be indicated only in letters, for example: "January 5,1990".
It is extremely important to keep in mind that if a tourist as directed by a physician regularly uses any specific medication, especially a narcotic, in order to avoid confusion with the customs authorities at the border of a foreign state, be sure to have a detailed medical prescription and a prescription for the drug with trade and Latin names. In the best case, the Belarusian tourist should have these documents in English.