Inoculations
There are no inoculations officially required of travellers, although you should always be up to date with polio and tetanus. Jabs against hepatitis A, typhoid and cholera are worthwhile, too - although some doctors doubt the effectiveness of the cholera jab. Those intending to stay a long time in the country, especially if working with animals or in the healthcare field, are also advised to consider vaccinations against TB, hepatitis B, diphtheria and rabies, though these are not worth your while if just going on holiday.

Moroccan authorities deny the existence of malaria anywhere on Moroccan territory, including the Western Sahara, but other authorities report occasional cases between May and October in the region to the north of Beni Mellal and Khenifra, in the area between Chaouen and Larache, and in the province of Taza. Local strains of malaria are not life-threatening and malaria pills are not normally considered necessary unless you actually fall ill with it (in which case they are easy enough to get at any pharmacy), but if you really want to be on the safe side, you could take a course of chloroquine (brands include Resochin, Nivaquin and Avlaclor). Note that chloroquine should not be taken if pregnant, and is best not taken for stretches of more than six months at a time. The dose is two tablets weekly for adults, to be taken from a week before entering a malarial zone until four weeks after leaving it. More importantly, avoid bites; use mosquito repellent on all exposed areas of skin, especially feet, and especially around dusk. Repellents using DEET are usually recommended for adults, though alternatives are citronella oil and Avon's Skin So Soft bath oil, both of which are highly effective, safe for children, and don't contain nasty chemicals, though citronella oil is only effective for a few hours, not all night. Electric mosquito repellent scent diffusers are also effective indoors, but require a socket. Mosquito "buzzers" are useless.

If you haven't had a typhoid jab then buy some Intétrix capsules (available from any pharmacy in Morocco). These are excellent antibacterial medication - useful for diarrhoea as well as typhoid prevention - and some doctors consider them more effective than inoculation. They are certainly valuable if you are travelling for any length of time in the south

Water and health hazards
The tap water in northern Morocco is generally safe to drink (in Chaouen, for example, it is pumped straight from a well), though in the south it's best to stick to bottled mineral water.

A more serious problem in the south is that many of the river valleys and oases are infected with bilharzia , also known as schistosomiasis , caused by a tiny fluke worm that lives part of its life cycle in a freshwater snail, and the other part in the blood and internal organs of a human or other mammal which bathes in or drinks the water. The snails only live in stagnant water, but the flukes may be swept downstream. Staying clear of slow-flowing rivers and oasis water is the best way to avoid it. If infected while bathing, you'll probably get a slightly itchy rash an hour or two later where the flukes have entered the skin. Later symptoms may take several months to appear, and are typified by abdominal pains, and blood in faeces or even urine. If you suspect that you might have it, seek medical help. Bilharzia is easily cured, but can cause permanent intestinal damage if untreated. Care should be taken, too, in drinking water from mountain streams . In areas where there is livestock upstream giardiasis may be prevalent and is a common cause of travellers' diarrhoea. Other symptoms include nausea, weight loss and fatigue which usually last no more than two weeks and settle without treatment. If they continue for longer then a course of metronidazole (Flagyl) generally leads to effective eradication. Using iodine water purification tablets, or boiling any drinking or cooking water (remember that you'll have to boil it for longer at high altitudes, where the boiling point is lower) is the simplest way to avoid putting yourself at risk from either of these illnesses.

Insurance
Wherever you're travelling from, it's a very good idea to have some kind of travel insurance . A typical travel insurance policy usually provides cover for the loss of baggage, tickets and - up to a certain limit - cash or cheques, as well as cancellation or curtailment of your journey. Most of them exclude so-called dangerous sports unless an extra premium is paid: in Morocco this could include mountaineering, skiing, water rafting or paragliding. Read the small print and benefits tables of prospective policies carefully; coverage can vary wildly for roughly similar premiums. Many policies can be chopped and changed to exclude coverage you don't need - for example, sickness and accident benefits can often be excluded or included at will. If you do take medical coverage , ascertain whether benefits will be paid as treatment proceeds or only after returning home, and whether there is a 24-hour medical emergency number. When securing baggage cover , make sure that the per-article limit - typically under £500 equivalent - will cover your most valuable possession. If you need to make a claim, you should keep receipts for medicines and medical treatment, and in the event you have anything stolen, you must obtain an official statement from the police. Bank and credit cards often have certain levels of medical or other insurance included and you may automatically get travel insurance if you use a major credit card to pay for your trip.

If you have a good all-risks home insurance policy it may cover your possessions against loss or theft even when overseas. Many private medical schemes also offer coverage plans for abroad, including baggage loss, cancellation or curtailment and cash replacement as well as sickness or accident.

Canadian provincial health plans usually provide partial cover for medical mishaps overseas. North American holders of official student/teacher/youth cards are entitled to meagre accident coverage and hospital in-patient benefits. Students will often find that their student health coverage extends during the vacations and for one term beyond the date of last enrolment