Djibouti - Health
Health care in Djibouti City is good, with a range of facilities from public hospitals (most cost effective but older equipment and limited medications), to mission hospitals (pay by donations) to private hospitals and clinics (most expensive option but by far the best facilities and better-trained staff).
There are many French-supplied pharmacies, so the majority of medications can be bought over the counter without a prescription.
Outside the city, health care is less reliable.
There is a risk of hepatitis B and HIV transmission via poorly sterilised equipment and infected blood if you need a blood transfusion.
Medical insurance is recommended.
Vaccine-Preventable Diseases:
Vaccinations for the following diseases are recommended: diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and polio, hepatitis B. Cholera is a risk.
Food and Water Concerns:
Tap water is not potable. Never drink from streams, rivers, lakes o wells. Bottled water is available everywhere.
Mosquito-borne Diseases:
Malaria prophylaxis is recommended.
Other Concerns:
Condoms bought in Africa might not be of the same quality as those purchased in your home country.
Last updated: December 2021
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Report received from Sailing Vessel TUVALU from Barcelona, Spain [www.tuvalubarcelona.es]
Update Gulf of Aden:
Between the 12th to the 26th of February 2023, we sailed with our Dufour 40 Performance TUVALU from the Maldives (Uligam) to Djibouti. It was a fast trip with most of the day’s nice winds between 10 to 15 knots, so we have been running the engine only for around 48 hours.
The European MSCHOA and the British UKTMO who are protecting the area are still present, contrary to the latest news (saying that they will cease military protection at the end of January 23). We had flyovers twice by a military airplane, talking to them on VHFCh. 16. We also sent to both organizations our daily position through IridiumGo, starting the reports once we left Maldives. We had absolutely no issues with pirates.
We sailed the 600 miles of the ETCM virtual channel in between the transiting cargo ships channel, in a 2 miles-wide area. There are many cargo ships, and at all times you can see several of them – so, you are never alone! But if you are sailing in the area in between, then you are free of them and it’s quite safe.
We left our AIS on, as MSCHOA recommend yachts do, as well as our PredictWind Tracking page: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-Tuvalu/
We are about to leave Djbouti after an enjoyable weeks stay. We heartily recommend Ahssan as agent. His will go beyond to help and while Djibouti is expensive his fee is reasonable. The 2 day trip to Lac Abbe is fantastic.
I just want to let you know that Djibouti is open since 17th of July. I saw that it still stated that it is closed, but that information is not correct anymore. I hope someone can adjust it.. thanks!
Marjolein