Traveling Soon? Don’t Forget These 6 Health Documents

Although COVID-19 travel restrictions have relaxed substantially, there still are many reasons why you should carry certain health-related information when traveling.

With air travel forecast to be busy this summer, having your health documents in order and easy to access may mean the difference between breezing through checkpoints or facing delays.

“It’s always better to be prepared,” says Scott Keyes, founder of the travel website Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights). “During your vacation, while you’re actually there, you want to enjoy it as much as possible.”

In addition to COVID-19 health documents travelers still may need, especially for international travel, it’s useful to have access to other health information when you’re away from home if you become ill or have a medical emergency.

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When Mark Harris, an author and university lecturer in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, traveled to Poland in late 2021, he had to carry and show his vaccination card and a negative COVID-19 test in every airport. On four domestic flights since then, he didn’t have to bring any health documents.

“It was a hassle … but I didn’t mind it because you really are trying to protect everyone from major sickness,” says Harris, 63. “If COVID taught me anything, it’s how to live in a world where there are communicable diseases.”

Documentation is easier to manage in the digital age thanks to email, websites and mobile apps, notes David O. Freedman, M.D., professor emeritus of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He recommends emailing all of your health information to yourself, as well as to a relative or friend — and bringing paper copies, in case you’re in a situation where you can’t easily access the internet.

Here are six types of health information travelers may need, depending on their destination and medical condition.

1. List of your medications and copies of your prescriptions

Carry a list of your prescription medications and dosages, on paper and digitally. This is one of the first things a medical professional will ask about in a health emergency. Bring copies of your prescriptions in case you lose or run out of your medicine. You also can keep the information on your phone’s lock screen or on a wearable device. “If you don’t speak the local language, many medicines and prescriptions translate pretty well,” Keyes notes.

For international travel, check the rules in the country you plan to visit. Sarah Fazendin, owner of Videre Travel in Denver, has been fielding many traveler questions about what prescriptions they can take to places like Japan, which has strict regulations on medicine brought into the country. Some over-the-counter medicines common in the United States to treat pain, anxiety and allergies are not allowed in Japan, she says. Visitors may have to apply for permission - an import certificate called “Yunyu Kakunin-sho” - to bring certain drugs or more than one month’s supply and receive it before you depart.

2. List of your chronic health conditions

Carry a list of chronic health conditions, including allergies, that might be important during an emergency, Keyes advises. Also note any major surgeries, such as a heart bypass or organ transplant, you’ve had, says Vicki Sowards, director of clinical resources for Passport Health, a Phoenix-based provider of travel medical services. 

Consider creating a laminated card to carry in your wallet, and put the information on your phone.

3. Health insurance information

U.S. health insurance policies don’t necessarily cover you overseas. (Medicare, for example, generally doesn’t.) Check with your insurance provider.