Mr Ali Juma attended the British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) meeting in September 2009 at Cardiff, held in Conjunction with European Association of Societies of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (EASAPS).
Mr Juma also co presented papers for publiction at the meeting relating to the recent trends in the UK for Cosmetic Surgery carried out abroad.
An internal survey among BAAPS members revealed surprising trends regarding ‘holiday’ surgery. Another study, exploring public perception on this subject, polled 179 randomly selected members at a city centre. Further research unveils some of the less savoury marketing tactics used by cosmetic surgery tourism companies.
Highlights of BAAPS internal poll:
■More than a quarter (26%) of surgeons said they have noted an increase in the amount of patients over the last 18 months that have experienced complications stemming from cosmetic surgery ‘holidays’
■Half of surgeons (50%) stated that they have noted no change in the amount of patients experiencing problems, despite the economic downturn
■One in 10 surgeons have seen between 7-9 patients over the same period with problems resulting from holiday surgery, nearly a third (29%) saw between 4-6 and half (50%) of those polled have seen at least 1-3
■One BAAPS member stated seeing over 16 problem cases (nearly one per month!) resulting from cosmetic surgery tourism
Highlights of public opinion survey:
■Nearly half of those polled (46%) have considered undergoing cosmetic surgery and of these, almost all (97%) would consider having the treatment abroad
■Nearly 4 out of 5 (78%) stated that if complications were encountered they would use NHS services. The top three reasons given (in this order) were because there is better quality of care, the NHS is free, and that as UK taxpayers they’re entitled to treatment
■Ten subjects had already undergone a procedure outside the UK. A great majority (70%) were dissatisfied with their post-op care
■67% would not consider cosmetic surgery outside the UK if money were no object
Tags: Cosmetic Surgery Abroad
