HOW CAN I TAKE MY PILLS INTO EGYPT?
Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder
Q Next week my wife and I are flying to Cairo for a two-week holiday in Egypt. I have a medical condition that requires a daily dosage of the steroid, prednisolone. For a fortnight’s stay, I will need to take quite a large quantity of these tablets.
Given the treatment of the British woman Laura Plummer in Egypt, what do you recommend in relation to taking prescribed drugs through Cairo airport? Is it better for me to take them in hand baggage or hold luggage? Is it sensible to take a copy of the prescription originally issued by my doctor?
Name withheld
A The circumstances around Laura Plummer, imprisoned in Egypt for bringing in painkillers, have little in common with an ordinary holidaymaker having sufficient prescribed medication for a short trip.
This is the context for her case. Egypt, in common with every other big country, has a serious problem with opiate abuse. Heroin addicts sometimes use tramadol, a very strong painkiller, as a substitute for their drug of choice. The NHS says tramadol is prescribed “to treat moderate to severe pain, for example after an operation or a serious injury” and can be addictive. Unlike some less-powerful analgesics, tramadol is available only on prescription. Because it is used by some people recreationally, the Department of Health limits prescriptions to 30 days’ treatment.
Ms Plummer was carrying almost 300 doses of tramadol. She said she was bringing it for her partner, who had been involved in a car accident. Ms Plummer had not been prescribed the drugs. Instead, she says a colleague had given them to her, though it is unclear how her supplier came by such a surplus.
Your situation is very different: you simply want to bring in the appropriate amount of prescribed medication for a two-week holiday. Thankfully, the system is straightforward. The Foreign Office says: “If you’re travelling with prescription medication you should carry a medical certificate confirming that the medication has been prescribed for a medical condition.
“This should be in the form of an official letter from your GP, specifying details of your condition, the quantity of medication you will be carrying and that the medication is for your personal use only.
“For further information and specific queries, contact the Egyptian Medical Office in London on 020 7370 6944.”
Assuming you comply with this procedure there should not be any problem. Keep your medicine in cabin baggage to avoid the risk that it might go astray.
Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder