Namibia travel health
Required is not recommended: the first is what the border asks about, the second is what a clinic would suggest. Both, for Namibia, then the number to dial and what care costs a visitor. Applies to every guide in Namibia: Sossusvlei & the Namib.
Required to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Recommended
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Hepatitis A
- Malaria prophylaxis for the north — the Namib and the coast are malaria-free
Emergency number
112, or 081 924 for the private ambulance network
Care for visitors
Good but costly
Windhoek and Swakopmund have good private hospitals; the desert has nothing at all, and a serious problem out there means a flight. Med-evac cover is the single most useful thing on a Namibian insurance policy.
Dehydration and sun in a desert where the humidity is near zero and you do not notice sweating. Road accidents on gravel are the leading cause of injury to visitors by a wide margin — slow down. Malaria only matters in the far north, in the Zambezi strip and Etosha in the wet season.
The general rules — clinic timing, water, mosquitoes, insurance — are in travel health tips.
