The Evening Times ran an article about figures in a new report showing that women from Lanarkshire experience higher-than-average rates of stillbirth and neonatal deaths than other parts of Scotland. The region recorded the second-highest rate in Scotland with 6.42 deaths per 1,000 births. However it is worth noting that the figure of 7,096 Lanarkshire resident […]
An injection of safe travel advice for Lucy
A Gartcosh student is set to embark on the ultimate gap year, with a little help from Monklands Hospital’s travel clinic.
Lucy Bryce is due to travel to Blantyre in Malawi, where she will volunteer with the Project Trust charity.
The seventeen year old, will spend a year working in a children’s care home before returning to Scotland to study social work at university.
Lucy said: “I will be a social carer and will be doing things like getting the children ready for school, walking them to school and helping them with their homework. I will be a parental type figure.
“To be safe on the trip, I require vaccinations for rabies, yellow fever, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, cholera, diphtheria, polio and tetanus.
“I also need treatment to prevent malaria.
“It is something that I really want to do, so I don’t see getting the injections as a burden. I would rather get the vaccinations than have the diseases.”
NHS Lanarkshire’s travel clinic provides pre-travel advice, vaccination and other treatment for people who are travelling abroad.
It is run by specialists in infectious diseases who are expert at providing advice to travellers who have health problems and those with complex travel plans or unusual activities.
Dr Ann Chapman, consultant in infectious diseases and general medicine, said: “Due to advances in transport and technology, the world is a much smaller place than it used to be. More people than ever before are now travelling to exotic places.
“The role of the travel clinic is to make it safe for people to visit these places. The care that we provide is very effective in avoiding serious illness.
“I think that a lot of people are surprised when they realise that they need vaccinations, especially when they are travelling to popular tourist areas. Even in these areas, malaria can be a huge risk and it is important that travellers take the appropriate precautions.”
HOW TO USE THE CLINIC
The clinic is one of very few in the region that is registered to provide yellow fever vaccinations.
Patients are also given general health advice for during their travels, including tips on water hygiene, avoidance of insect bites and management of animal bites.
Consultations at the clinic are free. Those who require treatment are required to pay the cost of the vaccine.
To make an appointment at the travel clinic, call 01236 712241.
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