Nepal’s healthcare is improving with the establishment of international hospitals such as Era International Hospital. In Nepal, according to the latest report of 2080, there are 215 public hospitals, 187 primary healthcare centers, and 3778 health posts catering to the best healthcare for the nation.
Nepal stands in the 107th rank worldwide in health care, striving to improve daily. Led by the Ministry Of Health Nepal, the Department of Health Services (DoHS) focuses on delivering preventive, promotive, and curative health frameworks inside the country.
While traveling to Nepal, tourists can log on to https://dohs.gov.np/, to get information on all available health updates if needed. Besides, health concerns for tourists in Nepal are common emotions both, tourists and health ministries feel.
A list of such health concerns, diseases, and problems are listed below for your convenience:
Health Concerns For Tourists In Nepal
- Altitude sickness :
- While traveling or trekking in areas such as the Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Base Camp, and Mardi Himal trek, altitude sickness is fairly common.
- Additional accompany of nausea, shortness of breath, fever may disturb the travel. This is a major health concern to identify and take care of.
- Acclimatization, drinking plenty of fluids and healthy food, and shrugging off habits of smoking and alcohol consumption are proven to reduce instances of such altitude sickness majorly.
- Taking along a first-aid kit is highly prioritized.
- Water and food safety concerns:
- In Nepal, waterborne diseases are easily caused such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, dysentery, and many more.
- The root cause boils down to the uncontrolled distribution of safe drinking water.
- Likewise, due to the lack of proper health protocols and monitoring infrastructures foods don’t live up to the best quality criteria all the time.
- Prevention is simple which is to drink only bottled water and consume healthy cooked food at hygienic places while avoiding packaged and junk food items.
- Air Pollution:
- Nepal, especially the highly populated areas like Kathmandu, has low-quality air led by insanely unmanaged waste disposal, fuel-operated vehicles emitting smoke, industries, and factories.
- Wearing masks when traveling through populated and polluted city areas is the best way to prevent respiratory issues.
- Infectious Diseases:
- Common diseases Nepal faces every year are malaria, asthma, dengue, TB, and diarrhea, especially in the dry seasons of summer.
- Vaccinations against these diseases prior travelling to Nepal or whilst in Nepal are recommended.
- Excellent healthcare providers like ERA International Hospitals can be trusted for timely vaccinations.
Vaccination Considerations
Here’s what our experienced doctors suggest in terms of immunization and recommended vaccinations for tourists in Nepal:
Yellow Fever Vaccine
- During travel to Nepal Yellow fever vaccinations matter immensely especially during the monsoon season when the root of this bed-ridding disease, the vector Aedes aegypti mosquito remains viciously active
- Therefore, getting yourself a dose named YF-FAX, especially for travelers who transited through a prone region for more than 12 hours or traveled from countries possessing significant risk of transmission.
Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis A remains a fatal concern and the recent reports suggest the term being googled widely during mid-July this year. Typically the transmission mode is the feces of an infected person ingested by another individual via food or liquid form.
- If a traveler is traveling from a highly industrialized nation having food courts and hubs that are rather handled with poor sanitation, vaccination becomes mandatory.
- The Harvix, Vaqta, Avaxim, and Twinrix vaccines are to be delivered in 2 doses.
Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis B is a low-prevalence disease in Nepal, yet some populations might possess the threat of hosting as well as transmitting the disease. Hence the proverb “prevention is better than quote” shines bright!
- Travelers, who have flown over from areas and industrialized countries need to get injected with the Engerix, Recombivax, or Twinrix vaccines provided in 3 dose sessions.
- The general recommendation is to get vaccinated at least 4 weeks before commuting to red zones!
Japanese Encephalitis
- An endemic in certain parts of Nepal, Japanese Encephalitis musn’t ever get a chance to spread. Vaccination is therefore crucial.
- Live SA14-14-2 (Chengdu Institute) or vero cell vaccine (Ixiaro), are the vaccines for travelers visiting rural areas, farms, rice fields, and irrigation areas.
- A single dose grants immunity for a whole 5-year period and is among the recommended vaccinations for travel to Nepal.
Meningococcal Meningitis Vaccine
- Meningococcal Meningitis reports fewer large-scale eruptions yet making it an endemic would be foolish. Vaccinating while traveling here is rational.
- Travelers, landing from areas of outbreak and large gatherings. Getting vaccinated weeks before escaping Nepal having been to a high-risk area is recommended.
- Meningococcal meningitis A&C or Quadrivalent A, C, Y, W135 (Menomune) is the single dose vaccine repeated every 3-5 years.
Rabies
- Rabies is a prominent, highly occurring, and incurable disease fatal to mankind. Especially in Nepal, the lack of vaccination for street dogs remains the number 1 mode of transmission.
- A fully completed series of 3 administered rabies shots before boarding to Nepal or after being infected is the right call!
Typhoid
- Typhoid is a frequently spotted disease globally. The fecal-oral route is the mode of contamination, suppressed through the Typhim Vi vaccination.
- Travelers touring endemic areas like Nepal must book a vaccination schedule as soon as possible.
- The inactivated injectable vaccine (lasting 2-3 years) and the live attenuated oral vaccine (lasting 5-7 years) are the available solutions.
How Does Travel Insurance Help?
Travel insurance must be amongst the top rank holders in Health Concerns for Tourists in Nepal.
A budget may surely allow recreational, adventurous, lodging, food, and other expenses while traveling yet a health ailment might be so sudden and unexpected, that getting insured is unignorable.
Here’s how travel insurance keeps you secured not just physically but also in other forms of uninvited situations:
- Medical Emergencies:
- About 15 percent of all tourists in Nepal are inclined to mountainous adventures that may result in accidents, illness, or emergency health conditions. In such times, helicopter evacuations or expensive medicine use calls for high bills. Travel insurance helps cover this!
- Trip cancellations/Flight delays:
- Cancelation of trips due to unfathomable situations such as natural disasters causes money loss.
- Travel insurance helps recover non-refundable costs like flight ticket costs, vehicle fees, and much more.
- Lost or stolen belongings:
- Travelling far away from home is a new experience full of new unknown people and the public. Thefts of bags, purses, cash, and other personal belongings can take place.
- Proper travel insurance comes in handy in such cases to replenish the costs.
