Directory A–ZH
EALTH
your trip’s duration, activities
you may be undertaking and
underlying medical condi-
tions such as pregnancy.
REQUIRED
VACCINATIONS
The only vaccine required by
international regulations is
yellow fever. Proof of vacci-
nation will only be required if
you have visited a country in
the yellow-fever zone within
the six days before entering
Sri Lanka.
RECOMMENDED
VACCINATIONS
The US Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) recommends
travellers consider the
following vaccinations for
travellers to Sri Lanka (as
well as being up to date with
measles, mumps and rubella
vaccinations).
Adult diphtheria and tetanus
Single booster recommended if
none in the previous 10 years.
Hepatitis A Provides almost
100% protection for up to a year.
Hepatitis B now considered
routine for most travellers.
Japanese Encephalitis Recom-
mended for rural travel, people
who will be doing outdoor activ-
ities, or anyone staying longer
than 30 days.Polio Incidence has been unre-
ported in Sri Lanka for several
years but must be assumed to
be present.
Rabies Three injections in all. A
booster after one year will then
provide 10 years’ protection.
Typhoid Recommended for all
travellers to Sri Lanka, even if
you only visit urban areas.
Varicella If you haven’t had
chickenpox, discuss this
vaccination with your doctor.Water
Tap water is not safe to
drink. Use bottled or filtered
water; for the former, look
for the small round ‘SLSI’AY U RVEDA
Ayurveda (eye-your-veda) is an ancient system of medicine using herbs, oils, metals and
animal products to heal and rejuvenate. Influenced by the system of the same name in
India, Ayurveda is widely used in Sri Lanka for a range of ailments.
Ayurveda postulates that the five elements (earth, air, ether, water and light) are linked
to the five senses, which in turn shape the nature of an individual’s constitution – his or
her dosha (life force). Disease and illness occurs when the dosha is out of balance. The
purpose of Ayurvedic treatment is to restore the balance.
For full-on therapeutic treatments, patients must be prepared to make a commitment
of weeks or months. It’s a gruelling regimen featuring frequent enemas and a bare mini-
mum diet of simple vegetable-derived calories.
Much more commonly, tourists treat themselves at Ayurvedic massage centres at-
tached to major hotels and in popular tourist centres. Full treatments take up to three
hours and include the following relaxing regimens.
̈ Herbal saunas (Sweda Karma) are based on a 2500-year-old design. The plaster walls
are infused with herbal ingredients, including honey and sandalwood powder. The floor
of the sauna is covered with herbs. Like a European sauna, a steady mist of medicinal
steam is maintained with water sprinkled onto hot coals.
̈ The steam bath (Vashpa Swedanam) looks like a cross between a coffin and a torture
chamber. Patients lie stretched out on a wooden platform, and a giant hinged door
covers the body with only the head exposed. From the base of the wooden steam bath,
up to 50 different herbs and spices infuse the body.
̈ The so-called Third Eye of the Lord Shiva treatment (Shiro Dhara) is the highlight for
many patients. For up to 45 minutes, a delicate flow of warm oil is poured slowly onto the
forehead and then smoothed gently into the temples by the masseuse.
While there are numerous spas with good international reputations, the standards at
some Ayurvedic centres are low. The massage oils may be simple coconut oil and the
practitioners may be unqualified, except in some instances where they may even be sex
workers. As poisoning cases have resulted from herbal treatments being misadminis-
tered, it pays to enquire precisely what the medicine contains and then consult with a
conventional physician.
For massage, enquire whether there are both male and female therapists available;
we’ve received complaints from female readers about sexual advances from some male
Ayurvedic practitioners. In general it’s not acceptable Ayurvedic practice for males to
massage females and vice versa.