Tsunami Update
Following the recent natural disasters in South East Asia, we have had several
questions from prospective travelers to those countries affected.
Although there have been no official recommendations for travelers some suggestions
are. Travelers going into disaster areas might reconsider their trip. Unless
expierenced in Relief work they may not be of much help. Even being present
and poorly equipped may overtax existing resources.
Instead of planning to volunteer or visit these areas appropriate donations
of money may be better. Physical items may require too much postage and delay
to be helpful but money transferred to worthy organizations may be helpful.
We also alert travelers
to consider the reemergence of diseases previously cleared in an area with
the disruption of normal food and sanitation. Diseases such as dengue, malaria, and
tuberculosis,along with others may be more severe and
more common.
For "regular" travel no
increased guidelines have been revised but given the context of a greater
liklihood for things to become worse before geting better we stress that travellers
discuss vaccinations and antimalarials with their travel clinics.
As information is quicly changing we recommend reviewing the following websites:
Centre for Disease Control www.cdc.com
World Health Organization www.who.int
Asia Pacific Natural Disaster Website https://www.internationalsos.com/members_home/Tsunami/
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/tsunamis/vaccination.asp
This second last site will give information about destination countries and
how relief is unfolding
Dr Podolsky Jan 2 2005
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