Insurance - Health care
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Although the standards of healthcare and emergency facilities have improved greatly in recent years, they remain below what most visitors would be accustomed to in their home country. Minor illness and injury can be adequately treated in the ubiquitous local clinics. Most overseas visitors would not be comfortable having serious problems dealt with in a local hospital, and insurance coverage for emergency medical evacuation (normally to Singapore or Perth) is therefore a wise precaution.
Be aware that the purchase of travel insurance still means that most clinics and hospitals require payment in advance. Any claim is then made to the insurance company on your return home. This is almost always the case if the problem is one that can be dealt with on an outpatient basis. Make sure that your insurance company has an agreement with a hospital or you will also be landed with a bill for an inpatient stay. Bali International Medical Centre (BIMC) appears to have the most agreements with insurance companies and is a well serviced hospital. This is however a relatively very expensive option and even they ask for payment for outpatient treatments.
The midday sun in Bali will fry the unwary traveller to a crisp, so slap on plenty of high-factor sun-protection and drink lots of fluids. There is though no need to carry litres of water as you can buy a bottle virtually anywhere. The locals tend to stay away from the beaches until about two hours before sunset, when most of the ferocity has gone out of the sun.
Bali is officially a malaria-free zone but dengue fever is a problem and all sensible precautions should be taken against being bitten by mosquitoes.
Take care in restaurants and bars; although it is very rare nowadays, some may use untreated/unsafe tap water to make ice for drinks otherwise made with clean ingredients. Tap water in hotels should not be used for drinking or brushing teeth unless explicitly labeled as safe.
The HIV infection rate in Bali is increasing, mainly amongst sex workers of both genders and intravenous drug users. If you engage in any risky activity, always protect yourself.
