International travel is one of the clearest manifestations of globalisation at work. However, while the benefits of easier and cheaper access to more distant destinations are huge, travel does not come without risks.
While attention has focused on the security implications of travel, our health is also at stake. Conservative estimates indicate that between 30 and 50% of travellers become ill or are injured while travelling, and a number of communicable diseases have been imported into the UK through the movement of people in recent years. Even so, travel health remains a neglected area of policy and our understanding of the trends and impacts of travel health is still in its infancy.
Healthy Travel shows that much work needs to be done in order to better communicate the health risks inherent in international travel. While advocating the benefits of increasing mobility, it shows that there is a need for more effective and targeted strategies in order to get information to people. It calls for a much more diverse and localised dissemination strategy which involves a variety of organisations and is tailored to the identities and needs of people who require it, from package tourists to business people and independent travellers. Finally, it argues for a more in-depth debate about the responsibilities of citizens, government and employers and for a better understanding of the need to manage, as opposed to eiminate, the health risks inherent in travel.
Healthy Travel is required reading not only for travel health specialists but for the travel indistry, travel advice providers, the medical profession and employers.