Travel medicine in Africa
Why practice
travel medicine?
By enhancing disease surveillance and enabling early detection of emerging threats, travel medicine, reinforces global health security and planetary health in an interconnected world.
As a frontline pillar of public health, travel medicine plays a critical role in preventing the global spread of infectious diseases and empowers travellers, migrants and other mobile populations to prevent illnesses and injuries during their trip.
Cross-border movement for work, trade, tourism and migration influence the spread and emergence of infectious diseases. As climate change and environmental pressures alter disease patterns across the continent, clinicians trained in travel medicine are better equipped to anticipate evolving risks, protect vulnerable communities, and support local public health systems.
Travel medicine practitioners strengthen their clinical expertise by staying up to date on disease trends, emerging infections, and environmental health risks; all skills that improve patient care. Providing travel health services builds patient trust and has the potential to broaden the scope of clinical practice.
What do travel medicine practitioners do?
Clinicians specialise in keeping travellers and migrants healthy before, during, and after travel.
Travel medicine practitioners help reduce a person’s ‘health footprint’. Getting sick or injured abroad risks spreading illnesses to local communities and using up scarce local medical resources. Timely advice on prevention and pre-trip preparation enables safer decision-making and reduced risk of complications.
The pre-travel consultation
Travel practitioners assess each outbound traveller’s itinerary, health status, and specific risks, then provide tailored advice, vaccinations, and preventive medications to reduce illness and injuries abroad. They advise travellers on topics such as food and water safety, insect bite prevention, climate health risks, managing chronic illnesses abroad, senior travel, psychological travel stressors, travel health insurance and sustainable travel practices.
During travel care
Travel medicine practitioners also care for ill or injured travellers and migrants, help navigate the local health system, provide specialist referrals, and bring peace of mind to patients away from home.
Post-travel assessment
Returning travellers are at risk of acquiring health complications abroad which may be serious, unusual or slow to appear. Travel medicine practitioners ensure timely diagnosis and treatment, prevent complications, and reduce the risk of spreading infections to prevent local transmission. They also provide valuable information for public health surveillance, helping detect emerging threats and guide future travel health recommendations.
Who are travel medicine practitioners?
Travel medicine delivered in an African context.
Most travel medicine providers in Africa are general practitioners, including infectious disease and occupational health specialists. They are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health workers in public and private practice.
Join today to get membership privileges
When you become a PATMF member, you are joining a community of like-minded practitioners committed to delivering high-quality travel medicine services to inbound and oubound travellers.
The Federation provides Africa-focused education, training, and networking in travel medicine, helping clinicians stay current on emerging diseases, improve pre- and post-travel care, and strengthen public health responses.
Membership provides access to exclusive training, resources for travellers, updated guidelines, research opportunities, and travel medicine best practices tailored to the African context.
Learn more about becoming a member.
Clinic Directory
Find PATMF members in Africa and refer your travelling patients to trusted travel medicine providers.