Health, vaccinations and medical care in Egypt

Your medicines may be illegal here

• Some prescribed and over-the-counter medicines are controlled substances in Egypt and need advance permission from the Egyptian Ministry of Health.
• Carry a doctor's letter stating your condition, the medicine, the quantity and that it is for personal use.
• Keep everything in original labelled packaging.
• Check before you fly with the Egyptian consulate if you take anything in the painkiller, sedative, stimulant or psychiatric categories.
• Tramadol in particular is heavily controlled in Egypt and people have been detained over it.

Getting treated

• Do not use the hotel doctor as a first resort. The FCDO notes specifically that hotel doctors have overcharged for treatment and medicines.
• Pharmacies outside hotels supply the same medication far more cheaply, and Egyptian pharmacists are well trained and helpful. Many drugs needing a prescription at home are available over the counter.
• Private hospitals in Cairo are good and expect payment or insurer confirmation up front.
• Travel insurance covering treatment and medical evacuation is essential, particularly if you are diving.
• Diving cover is usually a separate add-on and a recompression chamber evacuation is expensive. If you are diving, check the policy explicitly.

The stomach

Traveller's diarrhoea is close to universal and it is largely preventable.

• Do not drink the tap water and do not use it to brush your teeth. Bottled water is cheap and everywhere. Check the seal.
• Ice is the thing people forget, along with salad, unpeeled fruit and fruit juice diluted with tap water.
• Hot, freshly cooked food from a busy place is the safe bet, including street food.
• Carry oral rehydration salts and loperamide. The salts matter more.
• Buffets that have been sitting out are the usual culprit at resorts, not street stalls.

The rest

• No vaccinations are required unless arriving from a yellow fever risk country. Hepatitis A and typhoid are recommended, plus routine cover. See a travel clinic 8 weeks ahead.
• Do not swim, paddle or wade in the Nile, canals or irrigation channels. Schistosomiasis, also called bilharzia, is present in fresh water throughout the country. The Red Sea and hotel pools are fine.
• Rabies is present. Do not touch dogs, cats or monkeys, and treat any bite or scratch as urgent.
• Dengue occurs and mosquito precautions during the day are sensible.
• Sun and heat are the commonest problems. Hat, sunscreen, far more water than you think, and shade from 11:00 to 15:00.
• Dust and air quality in Cairo aggravate asthma. Bring your inhaler.