Malaria: Disease Control
(asked on 19th May 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that opportunities to talk about future travel plans are being taken up with people potentially susceptible to contracting malaria (a) at new patient checks, (b) at childhood immunisation appointments and (c) outside a specific travel health consultation.
The UK Health Security Agency publishes malaria-specific migrant health guidance for healthcare practitioners. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/malaria-migrant-health-guide
This calls for all practitioners to raise awareness of the risk of malaria by asking non-United Kingdom born patients from malarious countries whether they will be returning home to visit friends and relatives, and to advise how and when they should seek travel advice. The guidance reinforces that anyone visiting a malarious area can become infected regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, or country of birth, and that malaria is particularly dangerous for pregnant women.
Travellers are advised to get advice before they travel to areas where malaria is found. Pre-travel health services are available from private travel clinics, pharmacies, and some general practices. Further information on the pre travel health services that are available can be found at the following link:
There are no current plans to ensure that opportunities to talk about future travel plans are being taken up with people that are potentially susceptible to contracting malaria at new patient checks or childhood immunisation appointments, or outside of specific travel health consultations.