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Background: The number of young volunteers in international social projects has increased significantly with governmental and non-governmental project support. This paper investigates the hypothesis that the preventative medical advice currently given prior to departure is inadequate because the risk profile of young persons (<30 years) differs from that of the general population.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed with participants of international social projects. A specific questionnaire was developed; inclusion criteria were age between 18 and 30 years at departure and a duration with the project of at least 6 months.Results: One hundred and fifty-three data sets could be evaluated. Fifty-three percent were females; the destinations were as follows: 65.4% to Asia, 14.4% to Africa, and 10.5% to Latin America. The mean age was 20 years. Ninety percent of the participants received some kind of advice in travel medicine prior to departure. The vaccination rate was quite good, but pertussis (13.7%), yellow fever (80%), typhoid fever (54%), and rabies (49.7%) should be improved when travelling to high-risk regions. Food is a very important potential source of problems as 66% receive catering by the project, 56.2% from street stalls, and 44% were regularly invited to dine with locals. In Africa, only two-thirds of the participants of projects had regular access to safe water and the sanitary facilities were also poor; 51.7% of respondents reported new sexual contacts (one to more than six new partners). In most cases, condoms were used, but there were two unintended pregnancies.Conclusions: We conclude that young people need to be targeted with specialized advice for health and safety while abroad. This should highlight age-specific risks compared to advice for a more general population. Vaccination status should be improved for some regions and diseases.

Introduction: Young people serving as volunteers in international projects show a different risk profile to “normal” travellers. Data are scarce. While infectious risks were published elsewhere we focus now on non-infectious risks. Material and methods: 153 questionnaires, obtained from volunteers returning from their project were evaluated. Questions included age, situation abroad (living space and work), travel experience, region of the project, language skills, pre-travel advise, type of problems abroad (accidents, traffic, violence, robbery, sexual assault, psychosocial stress etc.). Results: Several factors, normally not included in pre-travel advice, cause significant psychosocial stress which decreases a bit during the stay. Special problems are insufficient language skills, (subjective) safety at night, traffic / transport, and violence. Psychosocial stress was the most important reason to stop the activity and to return home ahead of schedule (4% of all volunteers). Conclusions: Pre-travel advice of young volunteers should include psychosocial factors and other topics additional to infectious diseases, vaccination, and hygiene. Sufficient training in common but minor medical problems (headache, sunburn, minor wounds) is a “must”. A comprehensive advice and training may need two days and may be realized in groups of 5 to 12 participants. Health and safety should become a more important topic of all projects.

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