When health goes wrong, it can be a troubling time. But if it goes wrong when you’re in a location you’re not necessarily familiar with, where the attitudes to treatment and care are different, and where cultural acceptances and language are sometimes incomprehensible, those troubles become deeper. I know, because I’ve lived abroad and been there myself.
I recently came back from a trip to China, where I’ve been inspecting hospitals to make sure they’re of a high enough quality to treat our members. By and large, I was pretty impressed. They get treatments right, keep things clean and treat people well.

But language is a significant barrier. For a doctor, communication is one of the key tools in healing the patient. But many things are lost in translation, especially in the world of complex medical terminology, and for the patient it can be very confusing.

Then there’s culture. For Chinese nationals, having a consultation in a room with a number of people present, occasionally including strangers, is customary. For those from other countries it is far from acceptable. But overcoming this simple cultural phenomenon is almost impossible.

But sometimes the challenges are even more basic. Top of mind is the emergency situation. So, you’re living in a country with little knowledge of the health system or the language, and you’re involved in an accident. Will there be an ambulance ready to take you to hospital? Once there, will they understand you and give you adequate treatment? Will they even accept you, if they are unsure how you’ll pay?

It’s in these situations that I’ve come to realise that peace of mind is paramount, which is why I take great pride in developing services for our members where they have just that. I spend my time contracting with hospitals all across the world so that our members get recognised straight away. I have a team available on the phone 24/7 so they can translate or help with difficult situations. I’ve started a service for our members that provides them with a free, independent, expert second opinion when they’re unsure of their diagnosis. And I work with health systems in a number of countries to help them continually improve the quality of care they can provide.

But the challenges for expatriate health run deeper, and can depend on geography. I learnt on this trip that the rate of death from respiratory disease (directly related to air pollution and smoking) in mainland China is 26 percent – 13 times higher than that of the United States. Moving to China therefore constitutes a new challenge for the expat and their family.

Similarly, according to the World Health Organisation, moving from Western Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa confers a six-fold increase in the risk of hepatitis. Or moving to a region where temperatures mean outdoor exercise is not viable causes the average male to gain around seven kilograms of weight in the first six months.

So my advice is that if you are already, or are about to become, an expat, make sure you set healthcare out as one of your main priorities. Learn about where you are, how health systems work, and learn the basics of the language. But most of all, make sure you’ve got health cover that does more than just pay the bills.