Last updated: December 23, 2014


World Travel

Revealed: Worst places to get sick overseas

Sick traveller

Some islands in the Pacific are lacking when it comes to medical infrastructure. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

  • African continent has the worst healthcare system on planet
  • Cambodia, Afghanistan among top 20 destinations to avoid
  • Worst places to fall ill: Burma and remote locations

WORRIED about getting sick overseas? Steer clear of Africa then.

The continent has the highest number of countries on the World Health Organisation's ranking of the worst healthcare systems on the planet.

Cambodia in south-east Asia and Afghanistan also make the top 20 destinations to avoid.

Overall, Burma is the worst place to fall ill, followed by the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.

Liberia, Malawi and Mozambique are the next places to be avoided.

But Australian travel health experts warn there are also plenty of places closer to home where Australians get sick. With Aussies taking nearly eight million overseas trips last year, it's more important than ever to know where they are.

Travel doctor Tony Gerard said the places not to get sick are the ones where the local medical resources are poor, and that covers a fair bit of the developing world.

"We see Aussie travellers getting into real strife and confusion in Africa, parts of the Indian sub-continent, in remote areas in South America, and in Central Asia,'' he said.

But Dr Gerard said the very worst place a sick traveller can fall ill is in a remote location, such as if they are trekking in the wilderness.

"That's when you're really on your own and you're relying on whatever first aid knowledge you have and whatever you're carrying,'' he said.

Travelling Well author Dr Deborah Mills said places such as Vanuatu, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea sound lovely and exotic, but the medical care there is pretty bad.

"The infrastructure is bad, they don't have public health facilities,'' she said.

"If you get sick and go to the hospital you're in really big trouble.

"And they have so many of the tropical diseases.

"They have malaria, they have filariasis, they have lots of travellers diarrhea and gut problems. They have all the parasites.''

Dr Mills said that even western countries like America come with their share of worries, but for different reasons.

"The quality of healthcare in America is fantastic but for a nosebleed you'll pay $2,500, so you really want to have travel insurance,'' she said.

"And America has some surprising diseases. There's one called West Nile Virus which comes from mosquitoes and can be fatal and cause all sorts of problems.''

According to the US Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the most common disease when abroad is traveller's diarrhoea.

So should Australians be avoiding risky places altogether? Dr Mills doesn't think so.

"I think people can go anywhere provided they take the right precautions,'' she said.

"We don't encourage people to go into warzones, because you can't stop the bullets flying, but generally even the worst places are safe provided you get proper pre-travel care and get the right information, vaccines and medical kit in case you get sick.''