Karachi - Post Report Question and Answers

Are there any particular health concerns? What is the quality of available medical care? What medical conditions typically require medical evacuation?

Health concerns abound in Karachi. It is a poor city with subpar medical care. There a few stand-out medical facilities but those are for the more affluent patients. - Aug 2015


Well, it is a developing country. The air in Karachi can smell, and the scent of burning trash can waft through the air at any time. However, being close to the ocean (and the consulate being close to city-interior wetlands and the ocean), there is a enough wind at all times that flushes things out eventually. As of June 2014, there is new standing WHO guidance on Polio in Pakistan (yes, it is still here), but obtain the one-time oral vaccine and it isn't much of an issue. Local staff at the Consulate (and bigger hotels), especially those prepping foods, are focused on cleanliness, and while everyone gets ill here at some point, it doesn't happen nearly enough as one might expect. Other issues involve mosquito-transmitted diseases, the omnipresent threat of bird-droppings falling unceremoniously upon your head, running into a bat, and possibly a quick slip on the shiny new floors of our new consulate building. There are suitable hospitals here, with some standards of U.S. care, and medicines are readily available from trusted hospitals if needed. - Jun 2014


None. There is decent medical care here. They'll medevac you to Singapore for anything serious. - Mar 2013


Karachi is very unhealthy. Water and air are polluted. Everything you touch is at least dusty if not downright filthy. The NCC is next to a mangrove swamp and near the port. Next door is a squatter village. Mosquitoes and flies spread diseases. The Consulate nurse talks about when, not if, you get sick…There is a health unit in the Consulate, staffed by a nurse, with twice weekly visits by a US-trained local doctor. Both are on call 24/7.The larger health unit in the Embassy in Islamabad is available for consultations. One local hospital, the Aga Khan, is quite good. The others are not/not recommended. MEDIVACs are easily arranged. - Sep 2011


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