What vaccinations should you get for your volunteer trip abroad? It’s one of the top 5 questions I get from volunteers.

I have told them for years to start with government bodies like the CDC in the US and the UK’s FCO.

But as the “Flu Warning: Beware the Drug Companies!” discusses in the New York Review of Books, the CDC in particular has relationships with drug companies that present an potential conflicts of interest.

The author writes:

The CDC…has a nonprofit arm, known as the CDC Foundation, which essentially serves as a contract research liaison between the pharmaceutical industry and CDC scientists, accepting grants from companies for specific research projects such as the development of vaccines, diagnostic kits, and other health-related commodities.

In other words, the US government agency that recommends vaccines to travelers takes money from those vaccine companies.
What to do?

First, do not get too worried about what inoculations to get for your trip abroad. The most frequent health and safety problems faced by international travelers are not preventable by vaccines. The top two are car accidents and drowning – not infectious disease, terrorism, or assault as the media might have you believe.

Second, focus on considering vaccines that prevent illnesses related to food and water, as these are the diseases you will most likely be exposed to. The short list is Hepatitis A, typhoid and cholera. (For health care workers, the Hepatitis B vaccination is a must).

I would still use the CDC as a starting point for your research into vaccines for your trip. But keep in mind the above info when doing so.