Your Health | Preventive Measures | Inocuations & Malaria Risk | Glossary of Health Terms
Your Health & Staying HealthyYOUR HEALTH
ISEP participants traveling to certain countries need to be especially aware of the greater health risks they will face. The following information addresses some of the particular challenges found both in developing countries and in countries undergoing drastic socio-economic restructuring. We have attempted to provide as much accurate information as possible at press time. However, conditions and requirements can change—you are encouraged to use this information as the starting point in determining your particular needs and requirements.
There are many factors that affect the medical regime you should follow. These include your own personal medical history (e.g., allergies, on-going illnesses), where you will be, your living conditions, and how long you will be there. For example, there are differences between health safeguards suitable for the short-term tourist staying in a western-style hotel; the tourist visiting remote, rural areas; and the study abroad student staying in a country for a longer term, living in university housing and traveling around. In determining your own regime, you should consult with your personal physician and a physician experienced in international and tropical health. You should also refer to the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization Web sites for information on rarer diseases not contained in this handbook.
Once you arrive in your host country, check with the nearest home country embassy or consulate in your host country for the most up-to-date information about local health conditions, medical facilities and personnel. Often the embassy will hold briefings for exchange students, which ISEP participants may also attend. As an essential second step, obtain the names and addresses of several physicians before you become ill.
Remember that conditions at your host institution will differ from those out in the field or rural areas. If you are planning to do field research or travel outside your host city, check on health concerns and precautions before you go, and be sure to keep your ISEP coordinator informed of your travel plans. Your study abroad should be a rewarding and memorable experience, but the key for its success is up to you.
STAYING HEALTHY
The main line of defense in keeping healthy overseas is the personal precautions you take to provide protection against diseases transmitted through water, food, soil, insects and animals. The effectiveness of these measures is going to depend on how well you actually carry them out.
Different standards exist among different cultures with respect to good health practices and cleanliness, but these ideas are not always in keeping with scientific knowledge. Chlorinated water, standards of food preparation and washing before meals are not only customary in developed countries, they are also specific means of controlling disease.
The major disease problems in many developing countries result from fecal contamination of food, water and soil. This contamination is the cause of the spread of diarrheas, dysenteries, certain worms, typhoid, cholera, and hepatitis A and E. In general, you can protect yourself from these diseases by being certain your food and water are uncontaminated, that your personal cleanliness is good and that you always wear shoes.
Your Health | Preventive Measures | Inocuations & Malaria Risk | Glossary of Health Terms