POLIO ALERT

The Club Crew Health team have been alerted to a change in the requirements for vaccination and certification of Filipino crewmembers visiting certain ports.  The situation was first noted by IMEC and further confirmed by UK Club approved clinics in Manila and Club Correspondents Pandiman.

Members are advised the Philippines declared an outbreak of POLIO in September this year and a number of countries have reacted by introducing a requirement for polio vaccine from Filipino seafarers.

Currently there are 10 Countries requiring POLIO Vaccination Certificates from Filipino

Travelers and these are:

1. Brunei

2. Georgia

3. Lebanon

4. Maldives

5. Morocco

6. Oman

7. Pakistan

8. Qatar

9. Seychelles

10. Indonesia

Pandiman advise people travelling from the Philippines to check the immunization requirements of the country they are going to, and if required, receive a dose of Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) before departure and get their International Certificate of Vaccination from the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) to serve as proof of their vaccination.

Pandiman’s full ALON notice is attached for reference.

The official Philippines DOH advisory can be found here.

People going and/or coming from Philippine to Indonesia, they are required to be vaccinated against Polio (IPV-Inactivated poliovirus Vaccine), to prevent dissemination of poliovirus disease, and must produce a valid (ICVInternational Certificate of Vaccination).