If you have any concerns about your fitness to fly, talk to your doctor before making your travel arrangements. When you book, check whether there are any health regulations for visitors to the country you are flying to, or at any stopover points. Ask the travel agent or tour operator, the embassy, high commission or consulate of the country you are visiting, or your doctor.

Think carefully about health insurance before you leave the UK. If you need medical or dental treatment or a prescription while abroad, you will usually have to pay for it in full on the spot. Even if you can reclaim some or all of it afterwards under the EC scheme, this will not cover the cost of flying home in the event of sickness or death.