Istanbul has a crowded population with a population of about twenty million. It is also one of the most known cities in the world. It is a center that attracts the attention of tourists with its historical importance and social advantages such as night life and cultural richness. Istanbul hosts millions of tourists every year. The intense population of Istanbul gives its visitors an important question:
Should they concern about your health while visiting Istanbul?
For this reason, it is necessary to be careful in Istanbul on health-related issues. Or even if you are a local living in Istanbul, it is essential to have information about health-related issues. Because with this necessary information, everything can be easier on your Istanbul experience. Here are everything related to health in Istanbul before you go and while you are there.
Health Tips to Consider Before You Leave for İstanbul
As we mentioned, Istanbul is a city frequented by tourists. You, too, maybe make an Istanbul plan to explore this mysterious and exotic city. However, we would like to give you a few suggestions so that you can easily find a solution to any health-related problem you may experience or that you do not experience these problems at all. We hope that if you do the things we suggest to you carefully, you will not encounter any difficulties. Here are the precautions that you should take before going to Istanbul.
Vaccinations
You do not need to have a special vaccination when entering Istanbul, or more precisely, to enter Turkey. But due to Covid-19 and pandemic conditions, you need to have your Covid-19 vaccines. Apart from that, you can learn the vaccines you need to have by consulting your doctor. If you have vaccinations that you did not complete as a child, we recommend that you have them before you travel. It will prevent you from getting some epidemic disease during your travels. But on the subject of vaccination, our recommendation is to have your Covid-19 vaccinations. Although the pandemic conditions have greatly reduced its effect, you definitely need to take your precautions.
Travel Insurance
In your country, maybe you have health insurance. But you need to find out if it includes Turkey. If your health insurance is valid in Turkey, you still need to have additional travel insurance. Thanks to your travel insurance, you can get most of the services free of charge in public hospitals in case of any trouble you may encounter in Turkey. However, private hospitals in Turkey may not be covered by insurance. For this reason, the amount you have to pay can increase considerably. For this reason, make sure that you have travel and health insurance and that it is valid in Turkey. In this way, you can get free service at state hospitals in Turkey.
Medicines
If you have any prescription medication you use, we recommend that you bring it with you. Because some of the prescription drugs may not be given in pharmacies in Turkey. But in general, we can say that most of the essential drugs can be given in pharmacies in Turkey without a doctor’s prescription such as painkillers and nausea pills. Medicine prices in Turkey are lower than in America and Europe. In other words, you can easily find prescription and non-rare medicines in pharmacies in Turkey. If you do not want to worry about this, then, bring all the medicines you use. In other words, as we said, bringing only your specific medicines with you will make your work easier. Then, you can get other medicines here.
Health Tips While You’re in İstanbul
Here are the things that you should do from the moment you arrive in Istanbul. Western culture and Turkish culture are quite different. Therefore, many characteristics such as food culture, drinking water or the condition of the streets are among the factors that can seriously affect your health. It will be much better if you learn these before you come to Istanbul, so that you can take care of your health. We will try to tell you the things you should pay attention to while in Istanbul.
Water
Although water is easily drunk from the tap in many parts of Europe, tap water is generally not used for drinking in Turkey. Tap water is filtered but they are still not suitable for drinking. Only some houses use a purification water system. In this way, tap water is filtered again to convert it to drinkable water. Or, in some mountainside cities or towns, tap water can be drunk directly. However, we do not recommend using tap water as drinking water in a metropolis like Istanbul. Fortunately, water prices in Turkey are cheaper than in America and Europe. Additionally, you can find “cesme” everywhere in Istanbul, aka fountain. These are usually located at mosques but popular squares also have fountains. You can use these to drink clear water.
Foods
Because of Turkish cuisine, dishes of some regions of Turkey are quite spicy or salty. We can say that it can differ from western cultures very sharply. Because of this, your normal diet may not be used to this degree of spice. You may experience stomach problems due to this. But there are many different cultural dishes in Istanbul such as Mexican or Asian cuisine. You can complete your trip without disturbing your diet. For this reason, we recommend that you get an idea about the content of the foods you eat at the restaurants you go to. You can also view our Istanbul contents to have a broader idea what to eat in Istanbul.
Streets
It is possible to say that Istanbul is a clean city in general. But again, another thing that is different between Europe and America is its streets. It is possible to say that one of the most fundamental differences is stray animals. There are so many cats and dogs that you can see on the streets in Istanbul. And in some cases, we can say that these stray dogs are at risk of carrying disease. You may want to find stray animals sweet and love them. However, while you love them, you also need to consider that they can carry diseases. Even if you love it, we recommend that you wash your hands and disinfect yourself immediately afterwards. During your travel, you will not enjoy any problems related to your health. That’s why you have to pay attention to such fine details.