Travel insurance: Gap year travellers risking serious illness

Monday, 06 October 2008

Gap year students who leave the UK to see the world are risking consequences far worse than simply having to make a travel insurance claim, malariahotspots.co.uk has warned.

According to the group such travellers are failing to take adequate protection to prevent them from contracting malaria.

Health expert Professor Larry Goodyer said there were a number of reasons behind this phenomenon.

He stated, for a start, many travellers were ignorant about the disease's associated risks.

Professor Goodyer also claimed health was not a key priority for gap year students.

"The first thing a young person thinks about when they're going on an exciting long trip like that is 'what clothes shall I have? How do I look?'"

Figures from malariahotspots.co.uk revealed 2,000 British travellers return home with malaria each year.

They also showed there has been a 190 per cent increase in travel to destinations where malaria is common over the past ten years.

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