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Are Your Passengers Fit for Travel? 3 Vital Pre-Travel Health Checks for TMCs

3 vital health checks (2)

When you’re planning a trip for your business travellers, their health is often the last thing on your mind. However, the importance of pre-travel health checks shouldn’t be underestimated. 

A business trip will go to waste if your clients end up suffering in bed from an illness they weren't prepared for. Encouraging your clients to prepare their medication, helping them arrange a suitable health insurance plan, and suggesting they have their current health assessed by a professional will allow them to focus on their work and ensure their trip has a positive outcome.

Remind your Travellers to Take Medication With Them

Your client is in Spain about to give an important presentation, when they are struck with a killer headache. Rushing to the nearest convenience store, they discover that paracetamol is not easily available, being highly regulated, not to mention expensive, in the land of flamenco and fiesta.

Drugs that are perfectly legal and available over-the-counter (OTC) at home can be illegal and difficult to acquire when abroad.

So, it’s imperative that your clients take their commonly-used medication with them when they travel. We recommend that your travellers keep both prescribed and OTC medication in their clearly-labelled original packaging and store them in a clear plastic bag whilst in transit. This will allow the authorities abroad to easily examine any medication your travellers are carrying, minimising the chance of any complications.

It is equally important that they acquire a letter from the doctor who prescribed the medication detailing the treatment in question and the reason they're taking it, as well as a copy of the prescription itself. These documents will be particularly useful to travellers on longer trips, who may need to collect more medicine from a local medical practitioner. Most countries allow international travellers to take enough medication to last 90 days, but some countries only allow a 30 day supply. 

Download our guide to staying healthy abroad, which includes top tips that can  help you and your travellers avoid common health risks when travelling.

Check Your Clients are Well Insured

This may seem like common sense, but it bears repeating: comprehensive travel insurance is an absolute must for any jet-setting businessperson. According to the medical director of the Travel Medicine Alliance, over 50% of those who travel abroad fall ill, and, with foreign health care costing a small fortune, going abroad uninsured is simply not an option.  

Ensure that whatever policy your clients decide to take out covers them for all the locations they’ll be visiting. There may be additional policies they'll need to purchase to cover emergencies and medical evacuations, too.

Comprehensive business-class travel insurance may be something you could consider sourcing as part of your service to business customers. It would be one less thing they'd need to worry about, and you could make certain that they're covered for all circumstances.

It’s wise to recommend that your business travellers always carry their health insurance documents about their person  – they’ll thank you later if they're ever caught in an emergency.

Advise Your Business Travellers to See a Doctor

Encouraging your clients to visit their doctor four to six weeks before they travel is hugely beneficial. Doctors can check to see if they're up-to-date with routine vaccinations and advise them on any shots are required for their upcoming trip – these will depend on where they are going and what activities they’ll be undertaking. 

Having an appointment with a medical practitioner will also make certain that any pre-existing conditions they have are detailed in their medical records – important for insurance purposes. 

For even more security and peace of mind, your business travellers could visit a specialist travel doctor instead of a standard GP. Travel doctors are experts in global health issues and can provide bespoke advice concerning each country your clients will be visiting. Your customers can locate their nearest travel doctor using this handy search tool from the International Society of Travel Medicine. 

Prepared for Lift-off

None of your clients want to have their business trip ruined by sudden illness. Motivating them to find time to take these three vital health-checks before they travel will protect them from this potentiality and give them the best chances of enjoying successful – and healthy – business travel.

For more information on how your business travellers can stay healthy abroad, download our free guide.

Download our free guide: Essential tips for staying healthy abroadTop five tips  to stay healthy when travelling   Download Download

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