Polio certificate (IHR Temporary Recommendation)
If you will be in Pakistan for four weeks or more, you should carry an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis showing a polio-containing vaccine dose given between 4 weeks and 12 months before you leave Pakistan. The certificate must be signed by the clinician who administered the dose, with their professional credentials recorded.
ICVP booklets are supplied to UK travel clinics by Harlow Printing Ltd. Not every UK community pharmacy holds them or is authorised to sign polio ICVPs. Please ask us before booking whether we can issue your ICVP, or whether you should attend a designated travel clinic for both the dose and the certificate. We will be straight with you.
Malaria
Risk is present across most of Pakistan below 2,000 metres throughout the year, with both falciparum and vivax reported. NaTHNaC currently advises bite avoidance as the main measure for most low-altitude travel, with antimalarials (atovaquone with proguanil, doxycycline, or mefloquine) considered for higher risk itineraries such as rural Sindh, Balochistan and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Risk is very low above 2,000 metres, including most of Hunza and Skardu. Antimalarials are prescription only medicines; if your itinerary needs them we will refer you to a prescriber, since Longeva does not currently hold an Independent Prescriber on site.
Other health risks
Dengue circulates year-round and peaks after the monsoon in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Use repellent and cover up during the day. Rabies is endemic in dogs and other mammals; if bitten, scratched or licked on broken skin, wash the wound for fifteen minutes with soap and clean water and get to a hospital or A and E the same day. UK community pharmacies cannot supply rabies immunoglobulin; post-exposure RIG requires hospital. Traveller's diarrhoea is common, so practise food and water hygiene and carry oral rehydration salts. Altitude sickness is a real risk in Hunza, Skardu, Deosai and on any K2 base camp trekking route above 2,500 metres; ascend gradually. Air pollution in Lahore and Karachi can be severe in winter; travellers with asthma or heart disease should plan medication accordingly.
Visiting friends and relatives
If you are visiting family in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Azad Kashmir, the same vaccine risks apply. Time spent in family homes, eating local food and visiting rural areas can raise exposure to typhoid, hepatitis A and mosquito-borne illness, so a travel consultation is worthwhile even on repeat trips.
Routine UK vaccines to check
Td/IPV (combined adult diphtheria, tetanus and inactivated polio booster). MMR with two recorded doses, given measles outbreaks reported.
When to book
Six to eight weeks before departure, and crucially, the polio ICVP dose must be given between 4 weeks and 12 months before you LEAVE Pakistan. For stays approaching or exceeding four weeks, time it against your planned exit date, not your arrival date.
What we can supply
The vaccines listed above are subject to current Patient Group Direction coverage and stock availability at the time of your consultation. Antimalarials are prescription only medicines. ICVP issuing capability and adult IPV supply route depend on our current stock and authorisation; please ask before booking. Your appointment will confirm what we can give you and what may need an external prescription or referral.
Polio certification (ICVP)
An International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP) may be required if you are travelling from a country affected by polio or if you are a long-term resident in Pakistan travelling to countries that require proof of polio vaccination. In these circumstances, evidence of vaccination may need to be recorded on an ICVP.
