Taking Medicines Abroad

Discuss your travel plans with your GP in plenty of time before you travel and ask if you need to make any special arrangements. If you have a condition that could flare up when you are away, ask your GP to give you a written record of your health details.

Make sure that you have enough medicines with you to last for your whole trip. It is also useful to note the drug (generic) names of your medicines as well as their brand names in case of emergency.

Some countries limit the amount of particular drugs that you can bring in. Check for restrictions before you travel.

For some types of medicines, you will need a letter from your doctor or a licence from the Home Office in order to take them in or out of the UK.

These website links have a lot of helpful advice on taking medicines abroad.

Contacts

Cancer Research UK	020 7061 8355 Freephone 0808 800 40 40	CancerHelp information
Home Office	Direct Communications Unit 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF 0207 035 4848 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri)	Home Office information
Macmillan Cancer Support	89 Albert Embankment London, SE1 7UQ 0808 808 00 00 (help line)	Macmillan information

Review date: October 2012

Dorothy House Hospice Care provides the A-Z as a service to patients, carers and professionals, and cannot accept responsibility for the content of any external site referred to. We endeavour to ensure that all links are relevant at the time of publication.