If you’re travelling over the festive season, a digital health vault is the ‘life admin hack’ that will help you remember the most important thing you’re likely to forget to pack: your family’s health information.
Family holidays are when some of our most treasured memories are made. However, faced with organising things like sorting out transport and accommodation, and somehow fitting your family’s whole life into suitcases, it’s easy to overlook priorities that aren’t right in front of you, like the possibility that you may need access to your medical information while you’re away in the event of an accident or holiday bug. Storing your information in a secure, digital health vault, like Ajuda, takes care of that, giving you one less piece of life admin to worry about at the busiest time of year.
Here are three considerations that may have slipped off your travel to-do list and how a digital health vault, like Ajuda, can help.
1/ Keep track of vaccinations and travel medication.
Malaria remains one of the biggest killers in Africa. If you’re travelling to a malaria area, such as the Kruger National Park or certain parts of our neighbouring countries, it’s highly advisable that you take malaria prophylaxis.
If you’re not sure whether your destination is a malaria area or not, ask your pharmacist or consult a travel clinic.
Remember, the malaria map shifts as climate patterns change, so don’t assume your destination is malaria-free just because the risk was low the last time you visited.
Travelling to another country? A travel clinic can also advise you on any vaccinations you may need. Many countries require a yellow fever vaccination, for example, which you can then store in the Vaccination folder on Ajuda.
Use the Vault: Store your family’s vaccination records in your Ajuda vault so you can easily access and produce them if required. A small percentage of people may experience unpleasant side-effects with certain medications. Be sure to upload the meds you’re taking into the Medications folder on your Ajuda Vault, so you can keep track of any side-effects you may experience to consider a different option next time.
2/ Be careful when travelling with medication.
If you take chronic medication or you’re just organised and you like to be prepared, take note: If you’re travelling to another country, be very careful to research whether you’re allowed to take your medication into that country, even if you’re just going to be in transit. Anti-drug laws vary and what may be an over-the-counter headache tablet here in South Africa, could be an illegal narcotic somewhere else with very serious consequences for anyone caught with it.
Even if it is permitted, make sure you travel with your medication in its original packaging with your name on the label, indicating it was dispensed to you.
Use the Vault: Upload copies of your prescriptions and the contact details of the prescribing doctors into the Medications folder on your Ajuda Vault so that you can quickly and easily access these if airport authorities ask for them.
3/ Take your medical records with you.
Home insurance is a safety net for your belongings, but it can’t replace lost medical records. Storing digital copies is the best way to keep them safe while you’re travelling. It also means you can access them on holiday if you need them. “Storing your health records in a secure digital vault, such as Ajuda, ensures that not only are your records easily accessible, but they are protected under stringent protocols such as Password Protection and Two Factor Authentication, and are securely encrypted,” says Allan Macfarlane, Ajuda’s Chief Technical Officer. “Ajuda is POPIA compliant, aligns to industry best practice, international guideline compliance and all regulatory requirements to ensure the secure management, privacy and protection of consumer information.”
Use the Vault: Keep your medical records up to date in your Ajuda Vault and you’ll have the peace of mind that they’re safely stored in a secure place where you can access them easily from anywhere in the world. Just snap a pic of your most important records and upload. It’s that easy!
