I am a 31year old who has type 1 diabetes, and I will be traveling to Moscow and Kazakhstan for a month. Do you have any information on hospitals or doctors in these areas or how I could go about finding out this information?

There is a large Endocrinology Institute in Moscow has excellent facilities and likely many folks there who are fluent in English. In general, if you are in an emergency, and there is sufficient time, ask to go to the nearest medical university since they will likely have better facilities and someone who can speak English. Of course, bring more than enough supplies so that if some gets stolen or lost, you still have enough to last.

SB
Additional comments from David S. Holtzman, Esq.:

If you have health insurance, contact your insurer to learn if they have any preferred or contracted providers in the locations to which you will be traveling. Contact the Consular Offices of the US State Department in country. You can learn more from the State Department website.

Read the Lonely Planet Guides. I find these guides to be exhaustively researched and very much inclusive or what every traveler needs to know.

Do not forget to make sure that your insurance covers you for medical services provided abroad as well as evacuation back to the USA. Many policies do not and you might have to purchase separate coverage from a travel insurance specialist. Often the coverage is available for less than $100. Cheap compared to the tens of thousands of dollars it would cost to be evacuated back to the USA on the special charter aircraft necessary if you are badly ill or injured.

DSH

[Editor’s comment: Also see Traveling with Diabetes.

SS]