Staying Healthy in Uzbekistan
Water, food hygiene, heat, pharmacies and what medical care is actually like. Practical precautions for a trip, without the scaremongering.
Uzbekistan is not a difficult country health-wise. Most visitors have an entirely uneventful trip, the food is fresh, and the main risks are dull ones: stomach upsets, dehydration and sunburn.
This guide covers the sensible precautions. It is general information from a travel writer, not medical advice, and anything specific to you belongs in a conversation with a doctor or travel clinic before you go.
Water
Don't drink the tap water. Use bottled or boiled water for drinking and for brushing your teeth, and skip ice outside good city restaurants; many locals boil, filter or buy their water too. Tea is boiled, which is one reason it's the default drink at every meal. The survey data, brands and prices are in our guide to drinking water in Uzbekistan.
Food
Uzbek food is cooked fresh and turned over fast, which is the best protection there is. The sensible rules:
- Hot and busy is safe. Samsa straight from the tandoor, shashlik off the grill, plov from a cauldron at lunchtime. High turnover means nothing has been sitting.
- Be careful with cold dishes in summer. Mayonnaise-based salads and cooked food left out in a display case are the usual culprits.
- Wash fruit with bottled water, and peel what you can. Unwashed bazaar fruit causes more traveller illness than restaurant meals.
- Unpasteurised dairy at bazaars is delicious and a genuine risk if your stomach is delicate. The packaged versions are safe.
- Meat should be cooked through. Uzbek cooking does this anyway.
- Pace yourself. A lot of what visitors call food poisoning is simply three days of very rich, very fatty food in a row.
If you do get ill
Traveller's diarrhoea is the most common complaint and usually passes in a day or two.
Rehydration is the treatment that matters: oral rehydration salts from any pharmacy, plus water and weak tea. Carry a few sachets from home so you have them at three in the morning in Khiva.
Antidiarrhoeal medication is useful for a long bus journey and does not cure anything. See a doctor if there is blood, a high fever, or symptoms lasting more than two or three days, and do not self-prescribe antibiotics, which are widely sold here without prescription and frequently taken unnecessarily.
Heat, sun and altitude
More trips are spoiled by these three than by anything you eat.
Heat. Summer temperatures reach the high thirties and low forties across most of the country. Sightsee early and late, rest in the middle of the day, and drink with salts in it, not just water. The day-by-day tactics and the warning signs of heat exhaustion are in the summer travel guide.
Sun. The light is fierce and the monuments are reflective. High-factor sunscreen, a wide hat and long sleeves beat any amount of stoicism, and the worst sunburn most visitors get is on the back of the neck and the tops of the feet.
Altitude. Only relevant if you go into the mountains, where the passes and trekking routes rise well above 2,000 metres. Ascend gradually, drink more, and take it easy on the first day at height.
Pharmacies and medication
Pharmacies, dorixona in Uzbek or apteka in Russian, are everywhere in the cities, often open late, and staffed by people who know their stock well. Many common medicines are available cheaply and without prescription.
What to know:
Bring your own prescription medication for the whole trip plus a week, in original packaging, with a copy of the prescription or a doctor's letter. Specific brands may not exist locally, and some drugs that are ordinary at home are controlled here. Our customs guide covers what needs declaring, which includes strong painkillers and psychiatric medication.
Bring a small kit: rehydration salts, painkillers, antihistamines, plasters, antiseptic, insect repellent and any personal items. Everything else you can buy on the spot.
Medical care
Tashkent has private clinics used by expatriates and diplomats, with English-speaking doctors. Elsewhere, the picture is bleak: the UK FCDO health page says most hospitals are badly equipped with a limited supply of drugs, advises avoiding non-emergency treatment, and links a list of English-speaking medical providers in the country (last checked: September 2026). The ambulance number is 103.
Take travel insurance that covers medical evacuation. It is the single most important precaution in this guide, because the realistic answer to a serious problem outside Tashkent is a flight rather than a local hospital.
Keep your insurer's emergency number saved offline, along with your policy number and your embassy's contact details.
Vaccinations and other risks
Check with a travel clinic six to eight weeks before departure; requirements depend on your history and your itinerary. The CDC's Uzbekistan page lists routine vaccines and measles for everyone, hepatitis A and hepatitis B for most unvaccinated travellers, and typhoid and rabies for some, depending on how and where you travel; yellow fever isn't needed. UK readers can cross-check TravelHealthPro (both last checked: September 2026). Rabies is present in Central Asia, so treat stray dogs with respect and seek immediate advice after any animal bite.
Mosquitoes exist around water in summer and are a nuisance rather than a major disease risk in the areas most visitors go to. Repellent is worth carrying for Aral, riverside and mountain trips.
Air quality in Tashkent can be poor in winter, which matters if you have asthma. In Karakalpakstan, dust blown off the dried Aral seabed carries salt and agricultural residues; if you are doing the Ustyurt expedition, a buff over the face on windy days is sensible.
A simple medical kit
Everything here fits in a small bag and covers the overwhelming majority of what goes wrong.
Oral rehydration salts, at least six sachets. Painkillers you know you tolerate. An antihistamine. Anti-diarrhoeal tablets for travel days. Plasters, a small roll of tape and antiseptic wipes. Sunscreen and lip balm with UV protection. Insect repellent. Hand sanitiser, because bazaar taps and soap are not reliably paired. Any personal prescription medication, in its original box, with a copy of the prescription.
Two additions worth considering for longer trips: blister plasters, since Uzbek sightseeing involves far more walking on uneven brick than people expect, and a small supply of electrolyte tablets that are pleasant enough that you will actually drink them.
Leave out the elaborate first-aid kit. Pharmacies are everywhere and cheap, and anything genuinely serious needs a clinic rather than a bag.
Toilets, hygiene and small realities
Unglamorous, and it is what people actually want to know.
Public toilets at monuments, bazaars and bus stations are frequently squat-style, often charge a small fee in cash, and rarely provide paper or soap. Carry tissues and hand sanitiser at all times; this is the single most useful habit on an Uzbek trip. Hotels and restaurants in the cities are western-style and generally clean.
Wash your hands before eating with your fingers, which you will do often, since bread and many dishes are eaten by hand. Bazaar food is handled a great deal before it reaches you.
For women, sanitary products are available in city supermarkets and pharmacies, though the choice is narrower than at home; bring what you prefer. Breastfeeding in public is uncommon and best done discreetly.
Travelling while pregnant
This section is practical planning information, not medical advice. Your midwife or doctor knows your pregnancy, and the trip should be cleared with them first. What we can do is set out the parts of an Uzbek itinerary that are harder in pregnancy and what the official sources say about them.
Timing. The NHS guide to travelling in pregnancy says many people find mid-pregnancy, between four and six months, the most comfortable time to travel. In Uzbekistan the season matters as much as the trimester. July and August heat on the plains is hard work for anyone, and the old towns offer little shade. If you have the choice, spring or autumn makes the whole trip easier.
Flying with Uzbekistan Airways. The national carrier publishes its pregnancy rules. From 22 weeks you need a doctor-signed certificate stating there are no contraindications to flying, issued no more than seven days before your first flight and valid for up to 30 days for the return. With a single pregnancy it carries you up to the end of week 35; with twins or more, up to week 31. Beyond those limits it refuses boarding even with valid papers. Other airlines set their own cut-offs, so check each carrier on your route (last checked: October 2026).
Roads and long journeys. The UK FCDO’s safety page describes roads with poor surfaces and bad lighting and driving that can be erratic, and the country recorded 2,188 road deaths in 2025. Long road days, such as the drive across the desert to Khiva or out to Moynaq, mean hours of bumps far from a hospital. The fast trains are the smoother choice where they run. The NHS notes that journeys of more than four hours carry a small risk of blood clots, and recommends moving about regularly and drinking water; in a car, the lap strap goes under the bump and the diagonal strap between the breasts. Check that the car you hire has working rear seatbelts before you set off.
Food and your medical kit. The hot, freshly cooked food that is safest for everyone is also what the CDC’s advice for pregnant travellers points to. The same page says to avoid bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in some popular stomach remedies) and iodine water-purification tablets during pregnancy, so review the kit list above with your pharmacist rather than packing it as written. The NHS adds that some medicines for stomach upsets aren’t suitable in pregnancy.
Clinics. The FCDO health page describes medical care as generally poor, with no guarantee that equipment is properly sterilised, especially in rural hospitals, and says insurers usually send serious cases to hospitals in Europe or New Delhi. It specifically tells pregnant travellers to check that the destination can provide the care they might need. In practice that means knowing where Tashkent’s private clinics are before you go, using the FCDO’s list of English-speaking medical facilities, and treating the Aral and Ustyurt trips as a poor fit for late pregnancy, since they take you a long way from any hospital.
Insurance wording. This is where most problems start, so read the policy rather than the sales page. According to the NHS, the policy should pay for medical treatment linked to the pregnancy, including labour or a premature birth, and for moving your flight home if labour starts while you are away. The CDC adds neonatal complications: if the baby arrives early abroad, is the newborn covered? Look for those exact phrases, check whether the policy has a cut-off week of pregnancy, confirm that medical evacuation is included, and tell the insurer you are pregnant when you buy. Our travel insurance guide covers the rest of the policy.
Vaccines. The NHS notes that live vaccines aren’t generally recommended in pregnancy and inactivated ones are considered safe. Take the CDC list in the vaccinations section above to your travel clinic and let them decide what fits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I drink the tap water in Uzbekistan?
Better not to. Stick to bottled or boiled water and tea, and use bottled water for brushing your teeth too. The network is old and quality is inconsistent, and an upset stomach is a poor use of a short trip.
Is the street food safe?
Generally yes, when it is hot, freshly cooked and busy. Samsa from a tandoor and grilled meat are cooked in front of you. Cold dishes sitting in a summer display case are the thing to avoid.
Do I need vaccinations?
There is no universal requirement for most travellers, but your routine vaccinations should be current and a travel clinic may recommend others based on your plans. Book that appointment six to eight weeks ahead.
Are pharmacies good?
Yes, widespread, cheap and well stocked with common medicines, many available without prescription. Bring your own specific prescription drugs, since particular brands may not be available.
What about medical care outside Tashkent?
Basic. Tashkent's private clinics are the realistic option for anything serious, which is why evacuation cover in your travel insurance matters more here than in Western Europe.