Speisekarte
The rise of Turkey’s influence on the global world stage has occurred not through militaristic, ideological, or religious means, but through soft power in the form of health cyclo-tourism. The term health cyclo-tourism is used here for patients within the 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states that travel to a foreign destination for cosmetic surgery. Patients’ images have been transformed through operations to reassemble their bodies and then rebuilt anew. The visual, physical aspect has then been etched onto their identities. Plastic surgery in Turkey is often used by individuals when one either attains or leaves behind significant events due to personal or social issues. Herein, surgical interventions tailor and perfect not only the natural physical beauty and harmony for the individuals but give their identities also social-cultural legitimacy.
Seeing physical beauty becomes a positive reflection of their self-esteem, and having these positions in or positions leads to changing their futures. It has been noticed that not only celebrities hold position or position or are related to more advantageous prosperity. Ends of the nose relating with health functional problems are also related to the changing of personal identity and ability to give a person a facial feature and look more enjoyable place. Through surgical interventions, especially in areas such as Otoplastik, which is related to the beauty of society, lessen the negative attention and mockery of individuals with bigger auricular. These surgical intervention acceptances born and live in a region in people’s spirits create serious feelings of satisfaction with both positive self-image and a more participative social life. Preferences on surgical interventions, the widespread knowledge or experiences of plastic surgeries, a power or advantages of escalating trends create new social and cultural structures within the society.
Turkey’s medical services have seen a significant increase in demand from countries both in the region and further afield. With over 60 million visitors a year, Turkey has quickly been recognized as the ‘go-to’ destination with regards to medical treatments. The country is world-renowned for a variety of specialties, with cosmetic and plastische Chirurgie in der Türkeibeing the leading medical treatments chosen by international patients, also for its affordable plastic surgery treatments.
It is interesting to note the transformation in the primary factors influencing potential patients’ choice to receive treatment in Turkey. Price has traditionally been the main motivation, with patients flying to Turkey for very affordable plastic surgery compared to the possibility to be treated at home for £2000. The average fee for a rhinoplasty in the UK, for example, may cost the patient between £6000-3500, whilst the same treatment in Istanbul could cost between £2000-500. However, in recent years many clinics have also received big acclaim for excellence in their services and facilities, making Turkey appear even more attractive and trustworthy. Given the excellence of some of Turkey’s medical services, this is arguably true.
However, in a world that has seen the lines of the post-pandemic new world redrawn, the factor which influences the choice of medical treatment from Turkey is the availability of efficient and high-quality plastic surgery and medical services and advanced technology for high-quality plastic surgery yet affordable plastic surgery alternatives available in this emerging market. Among many construction works centered around airport buildings, urban expansion, and nuclear power construction contracts, in 2018 the healthcare sector made a powerful contribution of an estimated $1.5 billion dollars. The country has a growth rate in the health and wellness sector that is nearly twice the global growth average. Turkey has been investing in national health infrastructure for more than a decade, achieving high government support for universal healthcare access.
Over the past 15 years, Turkey has become increasingly popular as a holiday destination. However, this is not the only kind of visitor that Turkey has seen. Facial plastic surgeons have seen a huge influx of patients coming for aesthetic procedures. The proportion of medical tourists coming for cosmetic procedures has skyrocketed from almost zero to 8-9%. As a facial plastic surgeon working in Istanbul, Turkey, I have had first-hand experience of this dramatic increase. What is driving this huge growth and seems likely to continue to fuel more and more patients coming for plastische Chirurgie in der Türkei? The explosive growth of medical tourism Turkey is not by accident. It is a strategy to meet an under-capacity for elective surgical procedures in countries of the European Union.
As the European Union expands, the pool of potential members of a transnational health system is constantly being added to. However, the increase in the volume of procedures is not keeping pace with this growth. In England, for example, there is a 23-year waiting list for some aesthetic procedures. England is estimated to have 10 million people on its national health system waiting list. The long waiting lists for elective procedures in EU countries with socialist-style national insurance health systems and the easy travel and short distances to Turkey, with its low-cost but high-quality plastic surgery private health infrastructure, has been a lethal mix for these national insurance systems.
As it is widely known, Turkey has a cost advantage in health services over many advanced countries. Turkey’s reasonable prices, together with the enhancing quality and range of services, provide advantages for both patients and health tourists arriving from many countries, including some of the more developed nations. The lower cost, therefore, of procedures, especially for hair transplantation and plastic surgery, shifts the demand more in favor of Turkey. The existence of a large variety of plastic surgery in Turkey treatments offered at a similar or lower fee level, and the high rate of experience and expertise in hair imitation and hair transplantation surgeries, together with the geographical location, the demand by citizens from neighboring countries, and the demand of citizens from Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia to have a holiday while receiving a cheaper and experienced treatment, turned Turkey into an important health axis in a short time for esthetical treatments.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, in 2019, 96 million tourists entered Turkey, thanks to affordable plastic surgery, including 667,000 health tourists, which is an increase of 22.6% in total and 53% in health tourist numbers. Furthermore, the tourists spent 34.5 billion dollars, and 1.084 billion of this amount was spent by health tourists. As declared in the IPD figures, in total, 622,523 esthetical interventions on 269 thousand international patients were applied, and in return, the figure of $1.33 billion of income was gained from the esthetic interventions. The time to heal after the treatment, the eagerness to stay in a quiet paradise and moderate climate for a break, the reasonable surgery fees, and the crowded figures of the professional health centers should support the word of mouth and web-based advertising of the clinics. These advantages show that Turkey can be a popular destination not only for nearby countries but also for countries where esthetical interventions are very expensive to apply.
High-quality plastic surgery in Turkey services are in high demand because of the lower costs of these services compared to other countries and the growing numbers of foreign patients. In order to satisfy this demand in services being offered to foreign patients, the main issue that needs to be tackled is the perception of high quality and which service providers offer these high-quality plastic surgery services. Research on the medical tourism Turkey industry has suggested that patients travel to other countries for numerous reasons that include cost savings, insurance gaps, accessibility, waiting times, risks of not opting for treatment abroad, and the possibility of adding a holiday into the medical process. Registered hospitals and premium clinics employ internationally renowned surgeons; however, these obviously come at a price. Even so, it is not only European Union (EU) members and the citizens of affluent countries who seek alternatives in order to benefit from cost savings; many patients from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans opt for cheaper alternatives as well. Of note, a large number of health tourists visit Turkey to avoid long waiting periods. In countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), waiting times can extend to up to 18 weeks, outlining yet another problem that has emerged in the medical treatment process.
The generally accepted belief is that lower prices dictate the overall quality of procedures, but is this still the case for the plastische Chirurgie in der Türkeiindustry? Some patients might be concerned about the quality of the procedures, and in order to gain assurance, the Turkish Ministry of Health has made a good start by the introduction of new protocols and processes. This move mostly emerged because of unqualified doctors and the subsequent number of botched surgeries in a quest to use an international brand name to provide the reliability and safety that most patients seek when enquiring about treatments. The pros and cons of joining an alliance of nations in which countries recognize each other’s diplomas without the necessity of any bureaucratic paperwork appear to be twinfold. Joining the EU or the Schengen Treaty from Nutzenatur seeks to establish standards of care, safety, and customer-knows-best. It is unclear what will happen to the medical health movement after the United Kingdom leaves the EU, but the Turkish Minister of Health advocates for more training in a well-organized, competitive environment.
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