Clinics help prepare travellers for trip

VON Tri-County began the clinics late last year.

The idea is to give people what they need to know about the country they’re going to visit, including health-related precautions they should take and whether vaccinations are required.

The clinic is offered each Tuesday and sessions are arranged by appointment. “There’s a certain amount of research that’s done before and then it’s a one-hour consult and the decision is made as to what vaccines are needed to go to that area,” said Suzanne d’Entremont, VON Tri-County’s executive director. “There’s also education about travelling to that area.”

There is a consultation fee and also a fee for vaccines, which the VON can provide.

Noting that it may be necessary to give travellers a series of vaccines, depending on where they are going, d’Entremont says they will arrange to see people in a timely way so that they get the vaccines they need.

The clinic can cover a variety of issues, she says, again depending on the country or area people are visiting. “It’s not just about vaccines and medications,” she said. “It’s also information about particular things that are significant about where they’re travelling. It might be related to the water. That’s the big one that we hear about…So it’s a consult about any health risks that are related to that country (or a certain part of a country) that you’re going to be visiting.”

VON Tri-County is one of four VON sites in Nova Scotia offering the service, others being Annapolis Valley, Halifax and Cape Breton. “It’s us working in the community to fill a need that we’ve identified,” d’Entremont said.

Given that people may not be aware of the health-related things they need when getting ready to travel abroad, clinics like this one can help, the VON says.