Health

Islamabad has the country's best healthcare access. For anything serious, Shifa International is the visitor default; PIMS is the large public option; both run 24/7 emergency departments.

1. 1Carry a photo of your prescriptions; most common medicines are available cheaply at chains like D. Watson.
2. 2Check routine vaccinations with your doctor before travel; discuss typhoid and hepatitis A for longer trips.
3. 3Dengue-season (roughly late monsoon, Aug–Oct): use repellent at dawn/dusk.
4. 4Going above ~2,500m in the north? Read up on altitude sickness — ascend gradually, and never fly Skardu-and-trek-high in the same 24 hours.