I’ve always been aware just how easy it is to overspend on travel medication. Now is the time to be particularly careful.
A very simple example is why do people buy costly Immodium for diarrhoea? It is Loperamide; and available own-brand, for instance Tesco and Sainsburys, and unknown brand from Lidl. Lidl charge 87p per pack of 6 capsules. Immodium costs £2.63 (Boots).
Another example is why buy costly Nurofen for aches and pains, when generic 200mg Ibuprofen is the same? Sainsburys own brand Ibuprofen is 32p per 16 pack. Nurofen, again at Sainsburys, is £1.98 per 16 pack.
The picture is the same for private prescription medication, for instance, anti-malarials. Your GP will normally write the prescription for free, whereas travel clinics routinely charge £10 (though, often, refundable against purchases, that might, anyway, be inflated in price).
Currently at one travel clinic, Lariam are £30 per 8 tablets. The cheapest I could find on the net were £17.44 per 8, in one case plus £1.95 postage, in one case post-free. In either case you have to add the cost (and hassle) of sending the prescription. Alternatively, Tesco sell Lariam at £17.47 per 8. I checked that this is a national price. For comparison, Boots charge £21.80. A random West London local chemist quoted £22.85.
For vaccinations, usually the best route is your GP surgery, though you will mostly see a nurse. Apart from costs, I like the idea that the GP surgery has my medical records, including my immunisation history. They can be accurate about what is needed when, and, perhaps, save you money in the process, let alone unnecessarily pumping stuff into you.
As to prices, typhoid and hepatitis are normally free. Many other vaccinations are offered either free or for the cost of an NHS prescription. Even obscurities, such as yellow fever, will normally be charged less than the travel clinics.
I think that generally “cheaper” is the view of GPs that should be remembered. Pricing is very much up to the individual surgery. I’ve never paid for anything at my GP!
By contrast, I’ll end with some prices from a cheaper travel clinic: Typhoid £24, Hepatitis (A) £47.50, Yellow Fever £47, Rabies £45, Diptheria/Tetanus/Polio £30.