INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND HEALTH: CONCERNS, SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS

International travel is a growing industry and millions of international travellers arrive and depart all through-out the world in this jet age. International travellers are prone to have certain health risks. It includes physical problems, psychological problems, Infectious Diseases, Injuries etc. The health risk to the travellers also depend on the various factors like destination, duration of travel, season of travel, purpose of travel, standards of accommodation etc. Thus it is a big challenge to public health in that way. Travellers with pre-existing diseases pose additional threat to their health. There are certain infectious diseases for which mandatory vaccination is required (e.g. Yellow Fever). SARS, Ebola virus disease and Swine flu are the recent examples which greatly influenced the international travel. Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) and the Hajj Pilgrimage are the two important categories of international travellers worldwide. The International Health Regulations (IHR) aims to prevent, protect against, control and provide public responses to the international spread of diseases. International responses and collaborations are required to combat the public health issues emerging out with rapid international travel. The roles and responsibilities of the travel industry professionals as well as the travellers are also discussed.