Health Information

General Health Information for visitors to India

Please click on the  links below for health-related information for travellers to India.

The information on these sites is updated from time to time and it is advisable to re-confirm before travelling.

Additional information on Yellow Fever vaccination.

India is not an endemic country for Yellow Fever.

The Government of India only requires people arriving in India from countries endemic for Yellow Fever to have a valid vaccination certificate.

The requirements are:

(A) For entry into India

Any person, Foreigner or Indian, (excluding infants below six months) arriving by air or sea without a vaccination certificate of yellow fever will be kept in quarantine isolation for a period up to 6 days if :

  • He/she arrives in India within 6 days of departure/transit from a yellow fever endemic area.
  • Has come on a ship which has started from or transited at any port in a yellow fever endemic country within 30 days of its arrival in India provided such ship has not been disinfected in accordance with the procedure laid down by WHO.

(B) For leaving India

There is no health check requirement by the Indian Government on passengers leaving India.

Persons leaving for a yellow fever infected area are advised in their own interest to get themselves vaccinated and to be possession of valid yellow fever vaccination certificates before they leave the country.

An administrative arrangement for the health control of sea, air and land traffic exists between the Government of India and the Government of Bangladesh. It implies that ,if any aircraft or ship or land traffic from a third country arrives first at any airport or port or border check post in either of the agreement countries and then directly (without touching any other third country enroute) reaches the second country of the agreement, all health checks will be completed in the country of first arrival and the travellers will be exempted from any further health check on arrival in the second country.

Persons exempted from production of vaccination certificate:

 The under mentioned persons are exempted from production yellow fever vaccination certificate:

  •  infants below the age of six months.
  • Any person suffering from some chronic illness and has poor resistance and is thereby exempted from being vaccinated.
  • Crew and passengers of an aircraft transiting through an airport located in yellow fever infected area provided the Health Officer is satisfied that such persons remained within the airport premises during the period of stay.

The following countries are regarded as yellow fever endemic:

Africa:

Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast (Cote D’Ivoire), Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone,Sudan (South of 15° N),Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

South America:

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

Please click on the link below  for updates on Countries with risk of yellow fever virus (YFV) transmission

A Yellow fever vaccination certificate is valid only if it conforms to the model. The validity period of international certificate of vaccination or re-vaccination against yellow fever is 10 years, beginning 10 days after vaccination.

Foreign nationals residing or who have passed through the Yellow fever endemic countries during the preceding six days, are granted visas only after the production of vaccination certificate of Yellow Fever. After checking the vaccination certificate an entry reads as “Valid Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate Checked” is made in the passport of the foreigner.

(Please visit the link to the CDC website provided above for additional information).

 

Additional information on polio vaccination (effective from 1 March, 2014) 

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has put in place, the requirement of a dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV) for travellers to India from polio endemic countries and countries with poliovirus circulation following importation. 

The Ministry has also put in place the requirement of a dose of OPV for travellers from India going to polio endemic countries and countries with poliovirus circulation following importation.

Polio infected countries:
a) Polio endemic countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan
b) Countries with poliovirus circulation following importation: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Syria.

The above list may be amended from time to time following poliovirus detection. Read more.

Disclaimer:
The information provided on this page - on vaccines and medicines, healthy travel packing, staying healthy -in addition to some health tips, is NOT intended to replace the advice of a healthcare professional. Before you travel make sure you consult your doctor and relevant health agencies in your nation.