Travel Assns. Push Int'l Health Standards

<FONT SIZE="+3"><B>Travel Assns. Push Int'l Health Standards</B>

By Mary Ann McNulty

<I>New York </I>- A coalition of travel and tourism organizations has agreed that the travel industry needs to make travel health advice as common as tips on securing the best seat on a plane.

Meeting in New York last week at an event sponsored by the International Society of Travel Medicine, representatives from 20 travel industry organizations-including the National Business Travel Association-drafted a one-page consensus statement that outlines minimum health issues and information priorities. It's the first step in what organizers hope is an ongoing effort to have the industry, rather than government, agree on minimum travel health guidelines.

The groups agreed that health advice should be part of the travel industry service and that travel agents should advise customers of required immunizations and of destinations where there's a risk of malaria. The statement also recommends that agents should advise clients to seek expert advice from a healthcare provider on any recommended immunizations for specific areas and information on travel to foreign destinations. Representatives from each organization are expected to ask their respective boards to adopt the statement.

"What we're trying to do is put a positive spin on health," said Jay Keystone, president of the executive board of ISTM and a doctor at Toronto Hospital in Canada.

Bradley Connor, chairman of the travel industry and public education committee for ISTM, said the group was seeing a trend toward travel to more exotic destinations, such as "business travel to mine sites in Indonesia and rain forests. Travelers are putting themselves totally at risk with diseases that are totally preventable."

To help agents, ISTM plans to launch an educational campaign and distribute resource sheets for travelers to keep at their fingertips. In addition, ISTM has a Website (http://www.istm.org) that lists travel clinics in North America. Eventually, the society intends to post notices of disease outbreaks and other timely information. If funds permit, ISTM might develop a hotline that anyone could call for travel health information.

ISTM's intent is to have agents refer customers to specialized healthcare professionals, not play the role of doctor, Connor said.

Representing NBTA at the meeting, Mike Kabo, director of global travel, conference and administration for Avon Products, said that "safety and security, particularly in the international area, is growing. If this is an area of concern, travel managers should make sure these standards are part of their agency agreement."

ISTM is a Stone Mountain, Ga., association with 1,900 members including doctors, nurses and travel professionals. Also attending the meeting were representatives from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and the Association of Retail Travel Agents.