Bhubaneswar AIIMS gets 'first-of-its-kind' travel health clinic 

AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, added another health facility by opening a travel health clinic. The travel health clinic, which was inaugurated on Monday, will provide healthcare and essential vaccination services to travellers going and coming from abroad. 

AIIMS, Bhubaneswar is also going to launch an online travel health clinic soon and a travel health application will also be launched, sources said. 

Speaking to the media, the executive director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, Dr Ashutosh Biswas said, “Such travel health clinics are there in various hospitals, but this clinic has been made in a very organised way which is not found in any other health institutions in the country. We think this is the first of its kind travel health clinic in the country.”

He added that SOPs have been prepared for vaccinations for many diseases.  

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The clinic will provide travellers with essential vaccination services including yellow fever vaccine and play an advisory role for healthy behaviour during travel. 

Dr Bijay Kumar Panigrahy, director of the Odisha Health and Family Welfare Department said that the main objective of opening this travel health clinic is to provide vaccination services and issue advice on health behaviour to people travelling abroad.

He also added, "Those travelling abroad and to different destinations are usually of different age groups and they should know what kind of vaccines they need before travelling. At least a month before their travelling, they should take advice here about vaccines they need depending on the countries they are bound to. Their health will be examined and accordingly, advice will be given to them.”

Dr Biswaranjan Dash, public health officer of Bhubaneswar International Airport said that yellow fever is nonexistent in Odisha and in the country. “Yellow fever is a dengue-type fever. The people of the countries where yellow fever exists will have to take the yellow fever vaccine a month before travelling to India. As a result, our people will have no danger of infection from those travellers.”