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Malaria: Travel Information

Volume 461: debated on Monday 11 June 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Health from where (a) general practitioners and (b) pharmacists draw their information on the malarial status of destinations for UK travellers; and how frequently this information is updated. (138999)

Guidelines for use by healthcare workers on malaria prevention for travellers from the United Kingdom are formulated by the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention in UK Travellers (ACMP). The 2007 guidelines, and any change to advice arising since publication, are posted on the web at

www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics__az/malaria/guidelines.htm.

Hard copies are available free of charge on request. The guidelines will be reviewed yearly by ACMP and updated as necessary. The British National Formulary (BNF), issued free to general practitioners and pharmacies by the Department, makes recommendations based on the guidelines.

The ACMP guidelines and any changes to advice are also available to professionals via the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) website at www.nathnac.org and from the TRAVAX website at www.travax.nhs.uk (The A to Z of Healthy Travel; maintained by the Travel Health Division of Health Protection Scotland). NaTHNaC is funded by the Department to promote clinical standards in travel medicine, and has a telephone advice line for health professionals. The departmental publication ‘Health Information for Overseas Travel’ is available on the NaTHNaC website. The BNF references the HPA guidelines as well as the NaTHNaC and TRAVAX websites.