Cosmetic capital of east does swell trade

The Sunday Times, February 19, 2006

PRAGUE is vying to become the cosmetic surgery capital of Europe as thousands of foreigners — many of them British — arrive for cut-price facelifts, breast enlargements and tummy tucks.
With many fees only a third to a half of those charged in private clinics in Britain, the Czech capital is benefiting from a global boom in “health tourism”. As recently as 1997 there was just one clinic in the city treating foreigners; now there are more than 100.

For Louise Rumac, 29, from Beckenham, Kent, who had her breasts enlarged in Prague last November, the main motivation was price.
“I paid 2,500 and that included my accommodation for the whole package,” said Rumac last week. “It was half the price I would have paid over here. I booked the flight early and it only cost me 40.”
Rumac, who organised the treatment through Beautiful Beings, a British-based company, said she was also impressed with her treatment.
“The surgeon in Asklepion Clinic was fantastic,” she said. “She explained everything and the hospital was absolutely spotless. It was better than any private hospital I have been in in London.”
A 63-year-old nurse from Newcastle, who gave her name only as Anne, has just had eyelid surgery and dermatological treatment. She said that she was attracted by the possibility of combining her surgery with a few days’ shopping.
“One day I looked in the mirror and decided that what I saw wasn’t me. I paid 2,000 in total and would have paid three times as much in the UK for the same procedures,” she said.
For others, travelling abroad also provides much-needed anonymity. “I told everyone I was going to Prague on holiday,” said Jane, 50, a counsellor. “When I came back everyone commented on how well I looked but no one knew the real reason I was there.”
The Czech Republic has a long tradition of plastic surgery. Professor Francis Burian, a Czech, is regarded as one of the pioneers in the field and Europe’s first plastic surgery faculty was opened at the city’s Charles University in 1920.
Would-be aesthetic surgeons must undergo five years of special plastic surgery training on top of five years of general surgery after first taking their six-year medical degree.
The boom is more about economics as the Czech Republic and other recent European Union entrants realise that low labour costs and top-class equipment and training can allow them to take business from clinics in western Europe. Germans, in particular, have long travelled to Hungary for cut-price dental work, while Polish crematoriums lure foreign clients with cut-price deals.
Jaromir Beranek, of Mag Consulting, a Prague-based tourism consultancy, said that health tourism was especially lucrative for the city as some people visited two or three times to check out the facilities.
“The whole of central Europe is seeing a growth in health tourism, including plastic surgery, thanks to the cost of the procedures and the boom in low-cost airlines,” he said. “But Prague is leading the trend, particularly for British people, thanks to the standard of healthcare here.”
Other businessmen based in the city are getting in on the act. Tom Kenyon, a Briton who co-founded a company specialising in stag weekends five years ago, has started a venture offering “health breaks” — including spa treatments and cosmetic surgery.

Although most patients seem satisfied with their treatment, British plastic surgeons have warned that those going abroad could face serious problems if something goes wrong. A tiny minority of women who have their breasts enlarged suffer complications, but the proportion rises to as many as one in five for those who have liposuction and to one in three for those who have an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck).
Norbert Kang, of Sanctuary Cosmetic Surgeons, said he was concerned that people were treating cosmetic surgery like buying a car or any another consumer goods.

If people can get more bang for their buck in Prague then they are going to go,” he said. “But according to the statistics, even if an abdominoplasty is done to the same high standards as in Britain, one in three patients who goes to Prague will have something go wrong.
“Some then go to their GP and expect the National Health Service to pick up the tab.”