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Tribune News Network
Doha
In another landmark, the Communicable Diseases Center (CDC) of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has launched a Travellers Clinic to provide consultancy and vaccines to people visiting overseas where vaccination and other preventive measures are required.
The clinic, the first of its kind in Qatar, will provide highly specialised advice and treatment for those returning from overseas with travel-related illnesses such as persistent diarrhoea, rash, and fever.
The clinic will operate on appointment basis. Those accessing the clinic's services will get a certificate of vaccination (required for travel to some countries) as well as disease prevention advice for the countries they visit.
These include recommended vaccines for measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, polio, hepatitis A and B and the yearly flu shot. Some additional vaccines for yellow fever, rabies, and diphtheria may also be required for travel, depending on the country being visited. Vaccinations will be free for all, unless the medication required is specialized (for example Japanese Encephalitis).
The clinic will operate only on Mondays in the interim, and later on expand as the demand grows.
"Our aim is to protect the health of travellers by providing clinical care along with specific advice and information for each traveler," said Dr Muna al Maslamani, Medical Director of the CDC.
"It is important for travellers to be up to date with their vaccination and have their medical care optimised before they travel, particularly when there is a heightened risk of becoming sick in the country they are visiting. By providing all the necessary advice and preventive measures including vaccinations, our clinic will be a 'One Stop Shop' for travellers in Qatar," she added.
Vaccinations that will be available at the Travel Clinic include Meningococcal vaccine, Rabies vaccine, Typhoid vaccine, MMR vaccine, Haemophilus Influenza type B, and Diphtheria-Tetanus acellular-Pertussis (TdaP) vaccine.
