JH-IIRU Research Assistant Publishes Editorial on Pre-Travel Consultations

International travel is growing in popularity, especially to the Asia-Pacific and African regions. With increased travel to more low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), comes an increase in the risk of diseases and adverse health events. Travel medicine has made an effort to keep pace by making more immunizations and preventive medicine available, which in turn has changed the mortality and morbidity patterns of international travelers. While infectious diseases were previously the leading causes of adverse health for travelers, they are now 10 times more likely to die from injuries than infectious diseases.

Shirin Wadhwaniya, a JH-IIRU senior research assistant, recently published an editorial in the Journal of Travel Medicine. “Pre-Travel Consultation without Injury Prevention is Incomplete” stresses the importance of including injury prevention in pre-travel safety communications.

The editorial suggests that, because road traffic injuries are on the increase for travelers, clear and focused discussions on the risks of road travel and how they can be reduced should be an important component of pre-travel consultations.

Access the full article here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jtm.12041/pdf