Passport Health Corporate Director to Attend and Speak at the Africa Travel Association’s 36th Annual World Congress

BALTIMORE, MD–5/24/11– The Africa Travel Association’s (ATA) signature event will be held in Dakar, Senegal. The five-day congress provides a unique networking, learning and agenda-shaping platform for hundreds of travel professionals in Africa, including African mandataries, tourism ministers, industry experts representing tourism boards, travel agencies and tour operators, ground operators, airlines and hotels. The travel medicine industry will be represented by Passport Health’s Corporate Director, Mr. Jorge Eduardo Castillo, who also serves as an International Board Member for the ATA. Passport Health is the leading provider of travel medical services and immunizations in the U.S. The company’s travel medicine specialists counsel and prepare travelers whether they are traveling for business, leisure, mission or volunteer work.

 “I am honored to have been selected to speak at this prestigious event and I am looking forward to forging relationships with industry leaders,” said Mr. Castillo.  He will be a panelist in an education session titled “Working with tour operators on both sides of the Atlantic,” where he will focus on Travel Medicine and Travel Health Education as crucial components of a comprehensive, multi-national campaign to increase safe tourism and business in Africa.  The panel will be lead by Ms. Lisa Simon, President, National Tour Association (NTA).

“Unfortunately, there are some who perceive Africa as a dangerous place because of its reputation for dangerous diseases,” commented Mr. Castillo. “The reality is that diseases are present in Asia, South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean as well.  International travelers must be educated, immunized and well prepared so that their trip unfolds without a hitch,” he added. In addition to travel vaccinations, travelers should be aware of security issues, visa restrictions and food and water precautions.  “Passport Health is a one-stop destination for the international traveler,” he said.  “For example, we partner with organizations like Travisa, which took care of my visa and passport, Global Rescue, which is my travel and evacuation insurance provider, and SteriPEN, the company which is providing me with a ultraviolet-light portable water purifier the size of a pen,” he concluded.  Passport Health has a full line of hard-to-find specialty travel products specifically designed to keep travelers healthy during their trip.

Mr. Castillo will also be leading a second education session titled “New On-Line & Social Media Marketing Tools – Best Practices and Success Stories,” where he will be joined by Mr. Diego J. Lofeudo, Director of Market Management, Eastern Mediterranean and Africa, Expedia Travel.  The focus will be elevating Africa marketing into the 21st century by using online and social media marketing tools.

About Passport Health: Passport Health is an innovative network of travel immunization clinics with offices in 36 states and 185 offices nationwide.  The company’s business model is unique in the medical service industry.  The Vaccine Specialists® counsel travelers before their departure and provide them with destination-specific travel information, a complete line of travel and wellness immunizations, specialty travel products and travel and evacuation insurance.

Passport Health has positioned itself to support the needs of corporations with its flexible on-site immunization programs—including on-site flu clinics, on-site travel medical services and on-site wellness clinics.  The company gained national attention when it mobilized doctors and nurses to publishing and postal facilities along the east coast after the 2001 Anthrax attacks. Their experts also prepared relief workers and relatives of victims of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and responded to the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, in 2005, by deploying nurses to the Gulf Coast to vaccinate utility and relief workers.

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Tammy Broghammer

tammy.broghammer@passporthealthusa.com

410.727.0556

Passport Health’s CEO Speaks at MediTourExpo 2011

BALTIMORE, MD – 5/23/2011 – Fran Lessans, Founder and CEO of Passport Health, has been invited to speak at the MediTourExpo 2011 in Las Vegas, NV.  The conference is taking place May 23rd and 24th and is expected to attract hundreds of medical tourism professionals and related industries, including international healthcare and travel. The annual conference is committed to providing assistance to the global healthcare and worldwide medical travel industry. The conference set its goals to provide a platform for leading experts and lecturers as well as to create networking opportunities for commercial and government investors. “I am honored to be part of this very important conference,” commented Lessans. “All forecasts seem to indicate continued growth in this sector,” she added.

Passport Health, the largest private provider of travel medical services and immunizations in the U.S., provides country specific counseling and immunizations for international travelers. According to Healthcare Finance News (June 2009), the medical tourism industry is projected to grow from $50 billion to $100 billion by 2012. State of the art hospitals throughout the world are offering alternatives to receiving medical procedures in the U.S. or other developed countries. Typically, these procedures, such as knee and hip replacements, heart valve replacements and face lifts, just to name a few, are performed by U.S. trained physicians who are equipped with the latest technology and techniques. Prices for these procedures are significantly lower in countries such as India where a medical tourist, for example, can expect to pay $9,000 for a heart valve replacement vs. $160,000 in the U.S. (American Medical Association, 2007).  

“We recognize this trend and continue to stress the importance of being well-prepared, immunized and well-informed before traveling,” noted Lessans. “Some countries, such as Thailand, Malaysia and India have very different infectious disease-related epidemiology than North America or Europe. Exposure to diseases can be a hazard for all individuals, specifically with respect to gastrointestinal diseases like Hepatitis A, amoebic dysentery or typhoid; mosquito-transmitted diseases like Yellow Fever; and air-borne-transmitted illnesses  such as influenza (flu) and pneumonia. If you are ill, you can’t go ahead with your surgery,” she concluded.

Passport Health is dedicated to providing individualized preventive medical care for international travelers. Whether they are traveling for medical reasons, business, leisure, or going on a mission trip, travelers are counseled by Travel Medicine Specialists who:

• Assess the travelers’ health history & individual needs based on their itinerary
• Provide  information and counseling on health risks, required & recommended immunizations, safety precautions & security tips, as well as political and medical evacuation
• Discuss precautionary measures for dietary and recreational activities
• Administer and prescribe immunizations and medications

Travelers also have access to specialty travel products, like portable water purifiers and protection kits for malaria, diarrhea, and water purification as well as travel support products such as alert services and rental phones.

MediTourExpo will feature an array of speakers who are recognized experts in their fields. Among the speakers are: The Honorable Lorraine T. Hunt-Bono, who has been a Las Vegas and Nevada Hospitality Industry executive for 30 years, David Boucher, MPH, FACHE, who currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of Companion Global Healthcare, Inc., and Dale C. Van Demark, a Member of Epstein, Becker Green's Health Care and Life Sciences and Business Law practices, in the firm's Washington, DC, office.

About Passport Health:  Founded in 1994 Passport Health is a leading provider of travel health information and immunizations for international travelers, major corporations, universities and other international organizations. We prepare travelers for their trip with destination-specific travel information, immunizations, specialty travel products, and international travel health insurance. Our nationwide staff is comprised of professionals that include board-certified physicians and registered nurses who have completed rigorous training in the field of travel medicine and immunology.

The company has over 180 locations in 36 states throughout the U.S. Our on-site services for employers and schools include onsite clinics for Flu, Meningitis, and more. Passport Health has provided anthrax vaccinations and smallpox vaccination training and has worked with the US military, Post Office, and Federal employees and ran a 24/7 immunization call center for the Department of Defense.

Remedies for the Road

Simple and inexpensive precautions can stem illness on summer travel

By LAURA LANDRO- online.wsj.com

Ah, the pleasures of planning a summer vacation: exotic destinations, new adventures, a break from the daily routines of home.

After a certain age, though, it's also important to plan for health hazards. In addition to the vaccines recommended for many countries, it's a good idea to get a prescription for an antibiotic like Cipro in case you encounter a case of traveler's diarrhea, and to stock up on anti-malarial drugs if you are visiting countries where the disease is endemic.

It's also wise to anticipate some of the things that can go wrong when you are far from your doctor and the corner pharmacy, from more prosaic issues like dental problems to serious medical emergencies and complications of existing health conditions. As a frequent traveler, chronic worrier and germ freak, I think about everything that can go wrong from head to toe, and pack accordingly.

More Vulnerable
As we age, our bodies can become more susceptible to issues such as heat exhaustion, dehydration, and just simple fatigue and stomach upsets. We are less likely to be able to withstand the microbes that may lurk in the food sold by street vendors in Asian countries or the fresh sugarcane drinks on the beach in Brazil. Heavy air pollution in countries like China can take a greater toll on our lungs and exacerbate chronic conditions like asthma. And older adults are at higher risk of problems like blood clots in the legs from long plane journeys.

Fran Lessans, a nurse and the founder and chief executive of Passport Health, which runs travel clinics around the country, says more patients age 50-plus are visiting areas like Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Belize and Africa. Many consider themselves seasoned travelers because they've spent plenty of time in Europe and other developed areas, "but those are the ones that get caught off guard when they get to an underdeveloped country and aren't prepared for all the things that can go wrong."

In addition to getting recommended vaccines, Ms. Lessans suggests travelers take along extra doses of prescription medications and medical equipment such as asthma inhalers in case anything gets lost in transit. She also recommends an oral rehydration product to replace electrolytes lost in the dehydration resulting from diarrhea or sweating. For long plane journeys, she recommends compression stockings, which can improve lower leg circulation and prevent blood clots. Studies also suggest that melatonin supplements, taken at bedtime, may help with jet lag, especially in older travelers.

Many such aids are inexpensive, small and easy to pack, such as hand sanitizer. A $15 pure-drinking-water straw has a filter that can remove virtually all of the contaminants in drinking water if you can't get bottled water you can trust. Compact first-aid kits with wound wash and bandages can be lifesavers when it comes to cuts and blisters. In addition to insect repellent for the skin, spray clothes and sleeping bags with permethrin, which kills chiggers, mites, mosquitoes and ticks, and lasts up to two weeks even with laundering. Always pack sunscreen, as it can be hard to find in higher strengths, even in places like the Caribbean.

Paul Auerbach, a Stanford University physician and author of "Medicine for the Outdoors," recommends a thorough dental exam before trips, because loose or cracked teeth, abscesses or gum disease can turn into problems far from home.

Watch Your Step
Dr. Auerbach notes that wearing bifocal glasses to correct the classic over-50 vision issue—presbyopia, or the inability to focus on objects nearby—can lead to stumbles and falls; the lower part of the glasses, meant for reading, can blur the image down at your feet. He suggests wearing distance glasses or contact lenses and using walking sticks for rough terrain, and keeping reading glasses in a pocket.

Another essential, according to Dr. Auerbach: a medical-evacuation insurance plan for the worst-case scenario. Sandy and John Searles, now both 68, were hunting on a remote mountain in Ethiopia two years ago when Mr. Searles's eyes glazed over and he began gasping for breath. His wife recognized that he was having a stroke, and with the help of their guides she got him down the mountain for the 4½-hour drive to Addis Ababa to seek medical attention.

Ms. Searles had a purchased a medical-evacuation plan from Boston-based Global Rescue, which works with medical experts at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to assist members who run into health problems while traveling. (Rates start at about $119 for a single trip.) After she reached the company on a satellite phone, the staff arranged for his admission to a hospital in Addis Ababa, where he was stabilized, then secured a private plane to fly the couple to Nairobi, Kenya, for treatment by a neurosurgeon who consulted with Hopkins physicians. Global Rescue later arranged a commercial flight back home to Detroit accompanied by a paramedic for Mr. Searles, who has recovered well.

"Without them I don't know how I would have my husband with me today," says Ms. Searles. "If you are going to do this kind of travel at our age, it pays to take that extra step and think about getting rescued if need be."

Ms. Landro is an assistant managing editor for The Wall Street Journal and writes the paper's Informed Patient column. She can be reached at next@wsj.com.