Health and medical care by country

Stomach upsets are near-universal and preventable. Hotel doctors overcharge, pharmacies are cheap and good, and some of your medicines may be controlled here.

The capital is high enough to make you ill on day one, malaria is rising, cholera is present in parts, and evacuation cover is essential.

Yellow fever certificate compulsory, malaria everywhere, and insurance that covers evacuation rather than just treatment.

Take antimalarials for the coast and the parks, get insurance that includes air evacuation, and use bottled water. Nairobi private hospitals are good; a bush camp is four hours from anywhere.

Public hospitals are adequate and private clinics are better and expensive, with payment normally wanted before treatment. Dengue and chikungunya are present.

No vaccinations required, no malaria, and a good private system in the cities. Do not drink the tap water, and take travel insurance seriously because there is no reciprocal health agreement.

Yellow fever certificate required, malaria everywhere, and no national ambulance service behind the emergency number.

Antimalarials are recommended for most travellers. Kigali's public facilities handle routine care and everything outside Kigali is limited.

City tap water is safe, private hospitals are excellent and expensive, and the only real disease question is malaria in the lowveld, which includes Kruger, from September to May.

Malaria is everywhere and prophylaxis is not optional. Medical facilities outside Dar es Salaam are limited, so evacuation cover is the part of the insurance that matters.

Care that a visitor uses is private and is paid immediately, which makes insurance and an accessible balance the whole plan.

Yerevan handles the straightforward, private hospitals handle the rest expensively, and outside the capital care is basic.

Baku is fine; outside it, a serious problem means an evacuation flight to Turkey.

Good hospitals, and you will be billed for emergency treatment as a visitor.

Dengue year-round and rising in Dhaka, winter air that is a hazard in itself, and hospitals the FCDO calls poor.

Dengue is running 58% above last year, the state hospitals cannot handle a serious emergency, and the realistic plan for anything major is evacuation to Bangkok. Insurance that covers it is not optional here.

Healthcare is not free in China and state hospitals do not bill foreign insurers - you pay at every step and claim back. English-speaking care is concentrated in international clinics and the international departments of class 3 hospitals: Beijing United Family, Peking Union and Raffles. Keep the itemised list and the red-stamped Fapiao receipt or the claim fails.

Insurance of 30,000 GEL is a legal entry condition since January 2026, not just a good idea. Tap water is safe in Tbilisi and the mountains, and private hospitals in Tbilisi have English-speaking staff.

Care is excellent and, for a visitor without insurance, expensive. The tap water is safe and the air is not always.

Care for foreigners means private hospitals in the big cities: Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani in Mumbai and equivalents in Delhi run 24/7 emergency departments and bill in cash or against an insurer's guarantee. Drink only sealed bottled water, and treat comprehensive travel insurance as part of the trip cost rather than an extra.

BIMC Hospital Kuta and Kasih Ibu Kedonganan are the practical tourist hospitals in south Bali, with Siloam and RSUD Bali Mandara for wider Denpasar. Drink bottled water, use DEET against dengue, and treat insurance as essential: hospitals want payment or a guarantee up front and do not automatically accept a foreign policy.

No vaccinations are needed and the tap water is drinkable throughout. The catch is medication. Amphetamine stimulants such as Adderall and Vyvanse are banned outright, with no permit route at all, and people have been detained for cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine. Prescription medicine is limited to a month's supply without an import certificate.

Private hospitals in Amman are excellent and are used by the whole region. Drink bottled water, respect the heat, and do not shave the day you go in the Dead Sea.

The tap water is not drinkable, and ticks carrying encephalitis are a high risk in the mountains around Almaty from spring to autumn. Private clinics in Almaty and Astana have English-speaking staff; public hospitals largely do not.

Private fees are high and controlled by the state - and some prescriptions need permission arranged before you arrive.

Facilities are often badly equipped and sterilisation cannot be guaranteed. This is a country where evacuation cover is the point of the policy.

Dengue is a year-round mosquito risk countrywide and the tap water is not drinkable, not even for brushing teeth. Serious cases are evacuated to Thailand, so insurance with evacuation cover is essential rather than advisable.

Two hospitals run 24-hour emergency departments, the tap water is treated, and a visitor pays for everything.

No vaccinations are required except yellow fever from at-risk countries. Dengue is the main risk, peaking in the November to March monsoon, and rabies is present in Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Sarawak. Tap water is not drinkable. Private hospitals are excellent but expensive, so insurance is not optional.

Tap water everywhere comes from desalination plants and is not drinkable, not even for brushing teeth. Dengue is present year-round. ADK Hospital in Male and Tree Top Hospital in Hulhumale, near the airport, both run emergency departments. Insurance covering repatriation matters more here than almost anywhere.

Kathmandu has clinics that treat foreigners well and the rest of the country does not. Insurance must name helicopter evacuation, and never drink the tap water.

Facilities match UK standards, visitors pay privately, and an unpaid bill can stop you leaving the country.

1122 for an ambulance, a polio programme that may ask you for proof, and Lahore air in winter that is a health problem in its own right.

Proof of yellow fever vaccination is required from travellers aged 9 months and over arriving from a risk country, or after a transit there of more than 12 hours. The CDC also flags dengue and leptospirosis. Do not drink the tap water by default; use bottled or treated water, including for brushing your teeth.

Excellent hospitals that expect to be paid. Insurance is compulsory beyond 30 days and sensible from day one, and the heat is the thing that will actually put you in a clinic.

City hospitals are excellent, the visa insurance is smaller than it sounds, and the heat is the real hazard.

World-class medicine at prices to match, tap water you can drink straight from the tap, and dengue as the one genuine disease risk.

No vaccinations are required, tap water is safe to drink, and pharmacies carry the Yakguk sign. Severance, Seoul St. Mary's and Samsung Medical Center all run dedicated international departments with English-speaking coordinators. Care is good and it is not free - you pay and claim back.

Dengue is a year-round risk across the whole island, carried by daytime mosquitoes, so use high-DEET repellent. Tap water is not drinkable, including for brushing teeth. Use private hospitals with English-speaking staff - Nawaloka, Lanka Hospitals, Asiri - and expect to need a guarantee letter or cash before treatment.

No vaccinations are required, but dengue reaches Kaohsiung and Tainan over the summer. Municipal water leaves the plant drinkable and picks up contamination in old building plumbing, so boil it or use the hotel dispenser. Taiwan Adventist in Taipei has an International Priority Care Center; the registration fee alone is NTD 1,700.

No vaccination is required except yellow fever from a risk country. Thailand is a rabies-risk country and dengue is present year-round, including central Bangkok. Do not drink the tap water; private hospitals need a payment guarantee up front.

Private hospitals are excellent and bill you directly. Tap water is chlorinated and safe to brush with, and almost nobody drinks it.

Excellent hospitals and eye-watering bills. The one thing to do before you fly is check your medication is not a controlled substance here.

State hospitals are basic and the private clinics in Tashkent are the ones to use. Insurance with evacuation cover is not optional here, and the tap water is not for drinking.

Do not drink the tap water anywhere, not even in the big cities. Vinmec Times City and the Hanoi French Hospital, FV Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and Vinmec Da Nang all run 24/7 emergency departments. The EHIC is worthless here, so commercial travel insurance is a necessity rather than a nicety.

No EHIC, state facilities the FCDO calls very poor, bottled water only, and private clinics in Tirana for anything that matters.

Excellent healthcare, and a European card covers state treatment. What it does not cover is a helicopter off a mountain, which is where the eye-watering bills come from.

Excellent healthcare on a reimbursement model: you generally pay the doctor and claim it back, even with an EHIC.

No EHIC; insurance is essential, and the best hospitals are in Sarajevo.

EHIC covers the state system, private clinics are cheap, and ticks are a real risk in the mountains.

The EHIC covers state treatment and the standard is good. What it does not cover is a boat ride off an island or a private clinic, which is what the coast is full of.

EHIC works in the south and not in the north, and everything is in English.

No vaccinations are required and the tap water is excellent everywhere. EU visitors use an EHIC; everyone else is legally required to hold travel health insurance, and the Foreign Police do ask for proof during spot checks.

Excellent public healthcare, free at the point of use in an emergency. In and around Copenhagen you must phone 1813 before turning up at an emergency room.

Good healthcare, EHIC accepted, and tick-borne encephalitis is a real enough risk here to be worth a vaccination conversation.

EHIC or GHIC gets you public care at the Finnish patient fee. Insurance is still needed, because the public system is not the fast one.

Excellent care and safe tap water, but painkillers are pharmacy-only and the rules on bringing your own medication are strict - 28 days for controlled drugs, and Adderall is simply illegal in France.

Tap water is excellent and no vaccinations are required, but you cannot buy ibuprofen in a supermarket - only in an Apotheke, closed on Sundays. Non-EU visitors pay their own hospital bills in full.

No vaccinations are required and tap water is safe on the mainland. EU citizens are covered by EHIC in state hospitals, but the public system is stretched in summer, so foreign patients are usually better served at a private hospital.

The European card covers state care, and Hungarian private clinics and dentists are good and cheap enough that people fly in for them.

No vaccinations are required, the tap water is spring water and there are no mosquito-borne diseases. The real health issue is cost: treatment for a non-EEA visitor is expensive, and painkillers are sold only in pharmacies.

No vaccinations, safe tap water and a good health service that will still bill you EUR 100 for walking into an emergency department without a referral. An EHIC or GHIC waives that charge.

Routine vaccinations should be current; there is no malaria, but dengue, West Nile and chikungunya circulate in summer and ticks carry encephalitis in the northeastern Alps. Tap water is safe and Rome has 2,500 free nasoni fountains - just watch for Non Potabile signs. Pharmacies with a green cross handle minor problems.

EHIC works, care is decent in Riga and thinner outside it, and tick-borne encephalitis is genuinely worth a vaccination conversation.

EHIC works, care is good in the cities, and tick-borne encephalitis is at one of the highest incidence rates in Europe here.

Excellent healthcare, EHIC accepted, and a reimbursement model like Belgium's.

EHIC and GHIC both work, care is good and in English, and the heat is the main hazard.

No EHIC, limited state care, and insurance that should cover evacuation.

No EHIC; travel insurance is essential and the good hospitals are in Podgorica.

No vaccinations, excellent tap water, and a system that routes everything through a GP. Out of hours you call the huisartsenpost first rather than turning up at a hospital.

No EHIC; insurance essential, and private clinics in Skopje are cheap and good.

European visitors are covered by EHIC or GHIC and pay the same small patient fee a Norwegian pays, but Norway wants the physical card and will not take a photo of one. Mountain rescue is free; getting you home is not.

No vaccinations are required and the mains water meets EU standards. Pharmacies are dense, with designated 24-hour apteka całodobowa out of hours; third-country nationals must hold insurance with at least EUR 30,000 of cover.

No vaccinations are required and the tap water is drinkable throughout mainland Portugal. Pharmacies run a duty rota out of hours, and third-country nationals travelling on a visa must hold insurance with at least EUR 30,000 of cover.

EHIC works in the state system, private clinics are cheap and quick, and ticks are a real risk in the Carpathians.

EHIC does not apply; some countries have reciprocal agreements, and travel insurance is essential.

EU visitors are covered by EHIC for state care; nobody is covered for a mountain rescue. Tap water is safe and tick-borne encephalitis is the one vaccination worth a conversation.

Good healthcare, EHIC accepted, and one of Europe's higher tick-borne encephalitis rates.

No vaccinations are required and the tap water is safe. Painkillers are sold only in green-cross pharmacies, never in supermarkets, with a duty rota out of hours. La Paz and Gregorio Maranon in Madrid, Hospital Clinic and Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona all have international departments or multilingual emergency staff.

Excellent healthcare, safe tap water, no required vaccinations. EHIC and GHIC holders pay the same small patient fee as Swedes; everyone else needs insurance. Call 1177 before turning up anywhere.

World-class care at world-record prices. The European card works here, but it does not cover a helicopter, and that is the bill that hurts.

Emergency care is free to everyone, including you. What follows admission is not, and is billed at 150 percent of the NHS rate.

Facilities are limited and a serious case means an air ambulance to the United States, at your expense.

Canada has universal healthcare and you are not in it. An uninsured hospital stay runs to thousands of dollars a day, and this is the single most expensive mistake a visitor can make.

Good private hospitals, safe tap water in most of the country, no malaria worth planning around. Dengue is the real mosquito-borne risk and repellent is the answer.

Bring every medicine you might need. There are severe shortages, and treatment is paid for in foreign currency before you get it.

Do not drink the tap water, take mosquitoes seriously, and understand that an unpaid hospital bill can stop you leaving the country.

Private clinics in San Salvador, and a hospital that may want proof of insurance before it treats you.

Private clinics in the cities, altitude everywhere in the highlands, and a British prescription that is not valid here.

Private clinics in the big towns, state hospitals short of medicine, and a decompression chamber that matters if you dive.

Doctors and hospitals expect cash on the spot, the health system is still strained from Hurricane Melissa, and the ambulance number is 110 rather than the one you would guess.

Tap water is not drinkable anywhere in Mexico. Antibiotics need a Mexican prescription by law, but the consultation booth beside any pharmacy costs 40 to 80 MXN and will write you one.

Private hospitals want cash before treatment, and the good ones are all in Managua.

Good private hospitals in the capital and very little outside it. The tap water is safe in most of the country, which is unusual in the region.

Good treatment, expensive treatment, and an air ambulance to Nassau, Freeport or Miami if you are anywhere else.

This is the most expensive place in the world to fall ill and there is no safety net for you. Travel insurance is not optional here.

Good private hospitals, public ones that now charge non-resident foreigners in Buenos Aires and five provinces, safe tap water in the cities, no required vaccinations for most visitors. Yellow fever matters only for the far northeast, and altitude matters a great deal in the northwest.

La Paz is 3,650 m and El Alto airport 4,060 m, so altitude sickness is the near certainty, not the risk. Tap water is not drinkable anywhere, and yellow fever cover is needed for the lowlands.

Do not drink the tap water. Dengue is endemic nationwide and peaks December to April, so repellent matters more than any vaccine. Public emergency care is free but overwhelmed; private hospitals want proof of insurance first.

Private clinics in Santiago are excellent and expensive, the tap water is safe, and the two health risks worth planning for are altitude in the north and UV everywhere.

The yellow fever card stopped being paperwork in 2025: national parks including Tayrona check it at the gate and the vaccine has to be 10 days old. Insurance is not required to enter, and you still need it.

Altitude is what will actually affect you, in Quito on the first day. Private clinics in the cities are good and cheap; the Galapagos and the Amazon are a flight from anywhere.

Altitude is the health issue that actually affects most visitors - Cusco is 3,400 m and Puno 3,800 m. Do not drink the tap water, and consider yellow fever cover if you are going into the Amazon.

Health care is very good and available countrywide. In Montevideo, three private hospitals run 24 hour emergency departments that accept tourists without cover.

No vaccinations are required and the tap water is drinkable everywhere. Dengue reaches the tropical north, and rip currents kill 21 to 26 people a year - if one takes you out, float, raise an arm and swim sideways, never against it. Tourists get no free care: emergency treatment needs an insurer's guarantee or a card.

Dengue, Zika and chikungunya are all present and none has a vaccine you can rely on, so bite avoidance is the whole strategy. Insurance must cover evacuation.

No vaccinations are required, neither malaria nor dengue occurs, and the tap water is drinkable everywhere. ACC covers the treatment of accidental injury for every visitor regardless of fault, but not illness, evacuation or cancellation.

Malaria is present year-round below 1,800 m and you need prophylaxis. Tap water is not drinkable, public hospitals are poorly supplied, and your insurance must cover air evacuation to Australia - that is the one clause that matters here.

No EHIC, limited state facilities, and insurance that must cover repatriation.