When you’re packing all of your essentials when preparing to travel, you may not have given very much thought to how you pack your medicine. However, it’s important to do so correctly to ensure that you don’t have any issues later down the line. To keep your medicine safe and compliant while travelling abroad, Origin has put together this guide to cover all the important details on how to pack medicine for travel.
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Can you travel with medicine?
Travelling with medicine is permitted for many medications without requiring any specific precautions, though others may require additional measures to ensure compliance with any restrictions in the UK and other countries. Specifically, you should review the information below to ensure you’re fully compliant:
UK Government Guidelines
There are various medications that are fine to take while travelling under official UK government guidelines without any precautions. If these are in tablet form, or are in liquid form in a container that’s 100ml or smaller, you don’t need to take any proof that they’re intended for your use.
For others, the guidelines state that you can travel with medications in your hand luggage if these are:
- Essential medicines of more than 100ml, including liquid dietary foodstuffs and inhalers
- Medical equipment, if it’s essential for your journey
However, you’ll need to take proof that the medication is prescribed to you, such as a letter from your doctor or a copy of your prescription, in certain circumstances. These include:
- If it’s both in liquid form and in a container larger than 100ml.
- If it contains restricted medications
You may also need to contact your airport or airline if you are taking ice packs or oxygen cylinders. Below are details on how to appropriately pack restricted medications.
Restricted Medications
For some countries, there are medications you may have that are restricted, with countries such as India, Turkey, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates having strict lists of medications that are forbidden.
Before you travel, you should check with the embassy for the country that you are travelling to or transiting through to ensure your medications are compliant. As stated above, you should ensure that you have proof that this medication is intended for you through a letter from your doctor or a copy of your prescription.
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How to Pack Medicine for Travel
With the above requirements in mind, there are some steps that you should take to ensure that travelling with your medication goes smoothly and doesn’t present any unexpected problems. In addition, we also have some tips for making your medication use convenient while travelling. When packing your medicine, bear in mind the following:
Packing a Travel Medicine Kit
Taking the various medicines you may need in one convenient travel kit is beneficial for travelling abroad. This ensures that you have all of the necessary medications that you may need, without the risk of urgently needing them and having to search for somewhere to obtain them. As such, taking several basic medicines that may be of benefit, such as paracetamol, antihistamines and antacids, in addition to any prescribed medication, is recommended.
Packing in Your Hand Luggage
Though you may have more space in your suitcase, it’s worthwhile to keep your medication in your hand luggage. This way, you can access it whenever you need and not be without it if your luggage is delayed or lost.
Taking Enough Medication
You may not know just how much of a particular medication you may need when you’re away travelling. So, it’s important that you take enough medication to last you throughout, and a little bit extra, just in case.
Keeping the Original Packaging
For travelling abroad, airport staff may need to inspect certain medications. As such, you should keep them in their original packaging, including any information leaflets or labels that they contain.
Taking a Pill Organiser
If you have prescription medications that you need to take while travelling, using a pill organiser can help you remember when to take them. However, you should only transfer your medication to your organiser once you reach your destination, as you should keep it in its original packaging as described above while between borders.
The Importance of Quality Packaging for Travelling
As a leading pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer, Origin produces packaging designed to appropriately house medication in all contexts, including for travel. Specifically, our innovative packaging designs combine practicality, longevity and aesthetics for medicinal products.
When packing medication for travel, appropriately sized containers that reduce space while ensuring their contents are effectively protected are essential for patients. As such, our collections of plastic packaging and glass packaging equally prioritise these aspects, which include bottles of 100ml capacity and below.
Ensuring compliance with international travel regulations, our packaging reliably prevents leakage, maintains product stability and easily fits into hand luggage, providing safety and convenience for travelling patients.
Dependable Packaging for Travel From Origin
Now that you know how to pack medicine for travel to ensure compliance and safety, you can head on your journey without any concerns. If you’d like to learn more about how our packaging can effectively protect your products, you can find out further details through our pharma packaging blog.
For organisations looking for dependable pharmaceutical packaging solutions that are suitable for travel, chat with our expert team today.
