Key Points
- With correct preparation and precautions, individuals with HIV can journey safely each inside and out of doors of the United States.
- A couple of months earlier than touring, individuals with HIV ought to speak to their well being care supplier to plan forward for useful vaccines, medication adjustments, or any crucial medical paperwork.
- People with HIV ought to plan to proceed taking their HIV medication as prescribed, even whereas touring.
How can individuals with HIV put together for journey?
Prepare sufficient HIV medication to cowl the entire keep, plus potential delays.
It is vital to proceed taking your HIV medication as prescribed, even when touring. Bring sufficient HIV medication to cowl the size of your journey, plus a number of days further in case of delays. In some instances, you might have to work together with your well being care supplier to get HIV medicines in one other location.
When touring by airplane or internationally, all prescription medication must be in its unique packaging, labeled with dosage, your identify, and your date of beginning. Keep your HIV medication in your carry-on baggage in order that in case your checked baggage will get misplaced, you possibly can take your HIV medication on time.
If you might be touring internationally, bear in mind that entry to your HIV medication might differ in different nations. Your medication will not be out there or may very well be very costly. Additionally, medication that’s authorized within the United States could also be unlawful or require a particular allow in different nations.
Check the U.S. Department of State’s Travel Information for your destination or contact the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your destination country to substantiate in case your medication is authorized or restricted.
Research your vacation spot.
If you might be touring outdoors of the United States, pay attention to HIV-related journey restrictions. The kind of restriction varies by nation.
Some nations prohibit individuals with HIV from coming into and should deport guests based mostly on their HIV standing. Although you aren’t required to reveal your HIV standing in these nations, bringing HIV medication might point out your HIV standing and lead to deportation.
Other nations don’t ban individuals with HIV from coming into and staying lower than 90 days however require both HIV testing or HIV standing disclosure for work, research, or residency permits.
To study extra about journey restrictions based mostly on HIV standing—
Additionally, pay attention to native legal guidelines and cultural attitudes towards same-sex relations and marriage. According to the U.S. Department of State, greater than 60 nations contemplate consensual same-sex relations against the law. For different issues associated to sexual orientation, see the U.S. Department of State’s recommendations for lesbian, gay, and bisexual travelers.
Discuss your journey plans together with your well being care supplier.
A couple of months earlier than your journey, speak together with your well being care supplier about your journey plans, together with your vacation spot, the size of your journey, and your deliberate actions. Depending in your vacation spot, your well being care supplier might advocate vaccines or medicines to stop ailments like cholera or malaria.
Be certain to remind your well being care supplier of your present HIV medication and every other medicines you’re taking in order that they’ll test for potential drug-drug interactions if further vaccines or medicines are crucial.
Your well being care supplier may assist be certain that you proceed taking your HIV medication whereas touring. If you might be touring throughout time zones, you might want to regulate the time at which you are taking your HIV medication.
Ask your well being care supplier or pharmacist tips on how to time your dosing when touring, particularly in case you are taking lengthy flights. In some instances, your well being care supplier may work with you in an effort to get your HIV medication in one other location.
If you might be involved about bringing HIV medication with you, speak together with your well being care supplier about quickly switching to long-acting HIV medicines. Long-acting HIV medicines might be administered as an injection each one or two months. They usually are not appropriate for journeys longer than two months except your well being care supplier will help organize further injections as wanted if you are away.
If you might be touring overseas, you would possibly have to deliver documentation for any remedy you’re taking. Ask your well being care supplier for a letter that lists your medicines (together with their generic names and dosing) in addition to your info.
Explore medical insurance or supplemental journey insurance coverage choices.
Health care overseas is normally not coated by customary medical insurance, together with Medicare and Medicaid. Check together with your medical insurance supplier to find out if medical care overseas is roofed. You might wish to contemplate buying supplemental journey insurance coverage that can cowl look after pre-existing situations like HIV or medical evacuations within the occasion of an emergency.
For extra info on journey insurance coverage, go to the U.S. Department of State’s website.
How can individuals with HIV keep secure whereas touring?
Continue taking your HIV medication as prescribed.
Changes in time zone, jet lag, lengthy flights, and busy schedules can maintain you from taking your medication on time. Missing doses of your HIV medication can result in HIV drug resistance, therapy failure, and transmission to others. It may make you extra weak to different diseases, like opportunistic infections.
Therefore, it is very important proceed taking your HIV medication as prescribed. If you miss a standard dose, take the medication you missed as quickly as doable, except it’s nearly time in your subsequent dose. For extra tips about sticking to your HIV therapy, see the HIVinfo truth sheet Following an HIV Treatment Regimen: Steps to Take Before and After Starting HIV Medicines.
Take steps to stop different diseases.
Foodborne and waterborne diseases are more likely to be extra severe and last more in individuals with HIV than in individuals with a wholesome immune system. You can cut back your threat of foodborne sickness by being cautious about what you eat and drink.
- Water: Avoid ingesting faucet water, drinks which are fabricated from unheated faucet water, and drinks which have ice in areas the place the faucet water could be contaminated. In most instances, factory-sealed bottled water is safer than faucet water.
- Raw meals: Avoid consuming uncooked or undercooked meat and seafood. Be cautious of consuming uncooked fruit and veggies (and meals that comprise uncooked fruit and veggies) that you just didn’t put together your self.
- Milk: Avoid consuming milk and different dairy merchandise like cheese or yogurt which are unpasteurized.
- Bushmeat: Avoid dealing with or consuming bushmeat (meat harvested from wild animals, akin to bats, rodents, and monkeys). Bushmeat can carry germs that trigger severe diseases, like Ebola.
Bugs akin to mosquitoes and ticks can unfold vector-borne ailments, like malaria, dengue, and yellow fever. These ailments are more likely to be extra severe in individuals with weakened immune methods. If you might be touring to an space with vector-borne ailments, take steps to keep away from bug bites by—
- Wearing free, long-sleeved shirts and lengthy pants
- Using Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellent
- Sleeping beneath a mosquito web
If you might be touring throughout the United States, go to the CDC’s webpages on Where Ticks Live and Where Mosquitoes Live to study the place and when these ailments are extra frequent. If you might be touring overseas, go to the CDC’s Destinations webpage to study extra about what diseases are frequent in your vacation spot nation.
What ought to individuals with HIV do if their HIV medication is misplaced or broken?
If your HIV medication is misplaced or broken whereas touring throughout the United States, go to a pharmacy close to you with a replica of your prescription.
If you might be touring internationally to a low- or middle-income nation, you might encounter counterfeit or faux medication. Despite trying like actual medication, counterfeit medication can comprise ineffective quantities of medication and/or flawed or dangerous elements.
The greatest strategy to keep away from counterfeit medicines is to deliver your individual medication. However, in case your HIV medication is misplaced or compromised, take the next steps to keep away from counterfeits:
- Buy medication from a good supply, like a licensed pharmacist.
- Inspect the packaging for suspicious particulars. Misspellings or poor-quality printing could be a signal of a counterfeit.
If you might be touring overseas, the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your destination country can help you to find English-speaking well being care suppliers and clinics.
This truth sheet relies on info from the next sources:
From the HIV Clinical Practice Guidelines at Clinicalinfo.HIV.gov:
- Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents With HIV
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
From the U.S. Department of State:
From the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: