North
Preventive health in Ladakh
Extreme altitude and cold are the defining hazards, and both kill visitors who ascend too fast.
What matters most in Ladakh
Altitude illness
Why here: Leh sits high enough that arriving by air gives no time to acclimatise; the severe forms — fluid on the lungs or brain — progress within hours.
What to look for: Headache and nausea on arrival; breathlessness at rest, a wet cough, confusion or an unsteady walk are emergencies.
What to do: Rest the first 24–48 hours before exertion. Descend immediately for severe symptoms — oxygen and medication buy time, descent is the treatment.
Cold injury
Why here: Extreme winter temperatures cause frostbite and hypothermia, including indoors during power cuts.
What to look for: Numb white or waxy fingers, toes, nose; shivering that stops is dangerous, not improving.
What to do: Rewarm gradually, never with direct heat or by rubbing; seek care for anything more than superficial.
Tuberculosis
Why here: Sealed winter housing sustains transmission.
What to look for: Cough beyond two weeks, night sweats, weight loss.
What to do: Free diagnosis and the full drug course under the NTEP. Household contacts should be screened too, especially children.
And everywhere in India
These are not specific to Ladakh, but they cause more illness nationally than anything above, and every one of them is covered free by a national programme.
Tuberculosis
Why here: Still India's deadliest infectious disease, in every state and every income group.
What to look for: A cough lasting more than two weeks, evening fever, night sweats, losing weight without trying.
What to do: Diagnosis and the full drug course are free under the NTEP at any government facility. Stopping early is what creates drug-resistant TB — finish the course.
Snakebite
Why here: One of India's largest causes of accidental death, and heavily rural. Most deaths are delays, not venom.
What to look for: Any bite from an unidentified snake. Drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing or breathing, or bleeding that will not stop are emergencies.
What to do: Go straight to a government hospital with antivenom. Do not cut, suck, or apply a tourniquet, and do not go to a traditional healer first — that detour is what kills.
Rabies
Why here: Effectively always fatal once symptoms begin, and effectively always preventable before they do.
What to look for: Any bite, scratch or lick on broken skin from a dog, cat, monkey or bat. There is no safe wait-and-see.
What to do: Wash the wound with soap under running water for 15 minutes, then get the vaccine the same day. Free under the NRCP. A wound that looks trivial still counts.
Dengue
Why here: Present in every state and rising with urbanisation; the danger is the crash after the fever breaks.
What to look for: High fever with severe body ache, then — around day 3–7 — belly pain, vomiting, bleeding gums, or sudden exhaustion. That phase is the dangerous one.
What to do: Fluids and paracetamol only. Avoid ibuprofen and aspirin, which worsen bleeding. Empty standing water weekly — the mosquito breeds in clean water at home, not in drains.
The programmes named on this page
- NCVBDC — National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control
- NTEP — National TB Elimination Programme
- UIP — Universal Immunisation Programme
- IDSP — Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme
- NRCP — National Rabies Control Programme
- NSCAEM — National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission
Each is a real government programme, and the testing or treatment described is free at a government facility.
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