In search of a dazzling smile or a full head of hair, more and more Britons are turning to medical or cosmetic tourism, particularly in Turkey where many clinics are promising them operations at unbeatable prices.
Amber Dee, 48, paid £8,000 all-in for dental implants in this country three years ago, when the same operation would have cost her £60,000 in the UK.
"It's so expensive here!" exclaims this woman of Turkish origin, interviewed by AFP at the International Medical Tourism Exhibition in London, who plans to return to Istanbul for an eyelid lift.
On the stands of around a hundred Turkish clinics gathered in mid-February at the Queen Elizabeth II Exhibition Centre, giant panels boast, with supporting photos, the success of hair transplants, teeth whitening and in vitro fertilisation.
The aim of this event, held for the second time opposite Westminster Abbey, is to promote "high-quality, yet affordable" care, often combined with a holiday in the sun.
"I don't care where as long as it's done well," says Jessica, a 24-year-old social worker, her arms full of leaflets about the weight-loss surgery she wants to have in Türkiye.
"Confident" since one of her aunts had her teeth done in this leading medical tourism destination, the young woman is looking for an establishment that "organizes everything: the hospital, the hotel, and all I have to do is book the flight."
– “From A to Z” –
"We provide first-class care from A to Z, using the latest technology, from plastic surgery to organ transplants," promises Merve Sarigul, sales representative for Acibadem, Turkey's largest private hospital group.
The cost and "accessibility of healthcare are big issues (in the UK), (…) and we are trying to make things simpler for patients," she adds.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of Britons seeking medical treatment abroad almost doubled between 2021 and 2023, from 234,000 to 431,000.
Faced with the crisis in the NHS public health system, many of them refuse to spend months – or even years – on waiting lists, or to switch to the expensive private system.
In the past two years, almost one in five Britons who have been unable to get a dental appointment have resorted to going abroad, according to an Ipsos poll for the PA news agency published on Friday.
Cosmetic procedures, on the other hand, are "50 to 90 thousand pounds" cheaper in Türkiye, Jonathan Edelheit, president of the International Medical Tourism Association, told AFP.
Reality TV influencers like Katie Price have extensively documented their facelifts and buttock augmentation surgeries, promoting these clinics to their millions of followers.
– “Bad choice” –
However, more than 300 patients required hospital treatment in the UK after failed operations abroad between 2018 and 2022, according to the British Cosmetic Surgeons' Association.
Twenty-eight Britons even died between 2019 and 2024 after medical procedures in Türkiye, according to the Foreign Office.
Some patients make "poor choices by choosing the cheapest provider and trusting anyone on the internet," says Jonathan Edelheit, who urges tourists to turn to "accredited establishments."
To strengthen its credibility, Turkey introduced a mandatory certification system in 2017 for its 4,000 establishments receiving foreign patients, which will number two million by 2024.
Young Mathieu, a French student whose suicide after a botched beard transplant in Istanbul recently caused a stir, had, however, attended one of these establishments, his father claimed in the media.
Ella Cowan, 16, found it "reassuring" to meet people at the fair before the cosmetic chin surgery she is considering in Türkiye.
"We take health very seriously, and we believe that a one-on-one conversation leaves less room for error," Ilayda Seçer, the event's deputy general director, told AFP.
Since 2023, the Turkish group ALZ International has organized around ten similar events in Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Baku and Moscow.
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