HealthMap 2013 helps organisations understand and mitigate medical risks worldwide

HealthMap 2013 indicates risk by 'Low', 'Medium', 'Medium & High', 'High' and 'Extreme' categories. Medical risk ratings1 provide an overview of the threats of infectious disease, hygiene and sanitation, accidents and the availability and quality of the local health infrastructure.
 
Practical use of risk ratings by organisations
Risk ratings help indicate the level of preparation needed by travellers prior to departure and the degree of medical support they may need once in their destination. 
"The higher the country's medical risk, the more intervention is required. Preparation includes:  understanding the quality of local medical services, disease risks, vaccination requirements, food and water precautions and how to best manage your chronic conditions," says Dr Doug Quarry, Medical Director, International SOS.

Substantial number of business travellers are going to riskier destinations
International SOS' recent analysis2 of over 4.6 million travellers to 223 countries within its TravelTracker platform, a system used to help organisations track and communicate with their business travellers, reveals significant travel to destinations with more medical risk. 23% of business travellers are going to countries with 'Medium & High' risk, 'High' and 'Extreme' risk. The table below breaks down the percentage of worldwide travellers according to the medical risk level of their destination. 

 
HealthMap 2013 shows Syria and Libya with increased health risk; French Guiana sees an improved risk rating
In HealthMap 2013, trends show in Syria and Libya that medical conditions have worsened and are extreme risk destinations due to geopolitical uprisings and instability. Knock on effects to medical supplies and infrastructure as well as food and water safety are evident.

French Guiana has seen improvements in its health infrastructure and services; it's now rated as a moderate medical risk destination.  Many doctors are trained in France and Martinique, however the risk of malaria and dengue fever still persist.

BRICS include 'Medium & High' risk destinations; CIVETS see varying risk levels  
The BRICs, Brazil, Russia, India and China, continue to see annual growth in business travel.  Analysis of 2012 TravelTracker data shows that BRIC country travel makes up nearly 10% of all trips. BRIC countries fall into the 'Medium & High' risk category. This indicates a disparity in the medical risks and health care available between major cities and other areas. For example, selected facilities in capital cities may be of a high-standard which is not available elsewhere in the country.

This analysis also shows that Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa, also called the CIVETS, accounted for 5% of business travel in 2012. Over the past 3-years, travel to the CIVETS has increased 3% compared to G7 economies at -2.6%. The CIVETS have disparate medical risks from 'Medium' to 'High.'

Research validates that high risk countries lead to more evacuations and hospitalisations
In the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a recent study3 indicates that expatriates living and working in a 'High' medical risk country are six times more likely to be hospitalised and more than 23 times more likely to be medically evacuated than those in a 'Low' medical risk country. The authors hypothesise that a lack of local medical capability, presence of endemic disease and hazardous work contribute to this significant increase in risk.

The study also reveals that in 'High' medical risk countries, 48% of people hospitalised for any reason will require medical evacuation. In 'Extreme' risk countries, this risk increases to 79%. As such, country medical risk ratings can be used as a tool by organisations to better implement targeted risk mitigation programmes such as pre-travel screening, focused health training and the provision of on-site medical services.  

Supporting employees going to higher risk locations put additional challenges on organisations. Dr Quarry says: "'High' and 'Extreme' risk destinations compel organisations to employ comprehensive tactics to pre-empt risk. For example, pre-departure health screenings can help identify and treat conditions such cardiac or gastro-intestinal illnesses. You don't want to have a heart attack in a location with a poorly equipped hospital." 

"HealthMap 2013 is a tool to help organisations identify their medical risks and prioritise their corporate health agenda to better contain human and financial costs," adds Dr Quarry.

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