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ARCHIVED NEWS
A few snippets of news extracted from a variety
of world-wide publications featuring coverage of South Africa’s
surgical attractions:
THE GUARDIAN
Scalpel Safaris
Rory Carroll
Tuesday December 17, 2002
Travelling abroad for operations is not new
but this latest form has grown so fast as to be dubbed a hedonistic
illustration of global supply and demand. The flesh is willing
and the rand is weak.
For clients the appeals are obvious. Despite a recent rally,
South Africa's currency is feeble compared with the pound,
dollar and euro. More of the Britons who spend £200m on cosmetic
surgery each year have woken up to the fact that operations
in Johannesburg or Cape Town can be a third of the price at
home.
GMTV BRITAIN’S BIGGEST BREAKFAST SHOW
Scalpel Safaris
First class cosmetic surgery at Third World
prices?
Most of us look for a bit of sun, sea and sand
when we embark on our yearly holiday. But how would you fancy
combining that desired tummy tuck or face lift with that well
earned rest? South African cosmetic surgeons are now offering
people the chance to have a luxury holiday and a spot of plastic
surgery for less than the price of an operation in Britain.
Cheap alternative
Surgery in South Africa costs only a third that
of the UK. In Britain a face lift costs on average GBP 9,000,
while its equivalent in South Africa, including a stay in
a luxury hotel and a post-op safari comes to around GBP 3,500.
Tour operators are increasingly offering packages that include
a consultation via email and telephone or face-to-face to
reassure those who fear that standards may be lower abroad.
But in reality the operation is likely to be just as safe
as in the UK. According to President of theRoyal Society of
Medicine's Plastic Surgery Brain Coghlan, plastic surgery
qualifications in South Africa are equal to those in Britain.
THE FINANCIAL MAIL
A Snip At The Price
Medical tourism has made SA a hot destination
for face and boob lifts not to mention the lions.
By Peter Wilhelm
September, 2002
Increasing numbers of foreign tourists mainly
from the US and UK are taking advantage of the low rand
and SA's medical excellence to jet in for such pressing medical
emergencies as excessive flab, wrinkles and the known ailments
of age. Tourism based on the internal buying power of our
currency is familiar. Less so is the surge of a subset of
foreign visitors, medical tourists. SA has become a magnet
for those in search of (relatively) cheap elective procedures
such as tummy tucks, lipo suction, laser eye surgery, rhinoplasty
and breast enhancement. More critical surgical work including
hip and knee replacements, or, indeed, cardiac operations
are also on offer from a rising number of SA-based sources;
but cosmetic surgery is the main drawcard. There are no fixed
prices for elective surgery and clients should beware of those
that seem too low. As a bench mark, though, a breast augmentation
operation that costs £3000-£5000 in the UK and US$10000 in
the US, America is quoted by one SA company at £1800 ($2500).
And local prices, listed in pounds or dollars, generally include
some or all components of travel fares, food, hospital and
hotel admission; even a game tour. A face lift in England costs
£5000-£9000 (depending on where you have the surgery) and
in the US, $20000; in SA, with some extras, it is priced costed
at £2800 ($3900).
WASHINGTONPOST.COM
First Liposuction, Then Lions
Low-Cost Plastic Surgery Draws Tourists
to S. Africa
By Jon Jeter
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, June 8, 2002; Page A01
JOHANNESBURG
The surgeon's scalpel had left Peter Kaufman's
face swollen and his midsection sore, but his spirits were
high as he sipped orange juice and downed scrambled eggs by
the hotel's glistening pool. The operation had gone well,
and for less than half what it would have cost him back home
in Dallas, Kaufman had parted with his jowls and his love
handles. Now it was on to the South African bush, where Kaufman's
telltale scars could heal far from his neighbors and co-workers'
accusatory stares, his secret safe with the safari guide and
any elephants or rhinos he came across. "I made the decision
that by my 50th birthday I was going to reclaim my life,"
Kaufman said. "I really wanted to have a face lift, but it's
so incredibly expensive in the States. Here I can get everything
I want done, go on safari, [and] spend three weeks recuperating
for the same price as just the surgical procedure back home.
The swelling will be down by the time I return, so I can go
back as a new person and it won't look so obvious. And I feel
safer here than I do in the U.S. right now. This is just ideal."
Kaufman needed to get his groove back and headed east, here
to South Africa, where the plastic surgeons are first-rate,
the animals are exotic and the dollar goes a long way. The
odd combination of lions and liposuction are at the center
of this country's growing "medical tourism" industry, which
has in turn helped fuel a surge in international travel here
since Sept. 11 © 2002 The Washington Post Company
IRISH INDEPENDENT (ON-LINE)
Going on a holiday for sun, safari and surgery?
Tourists to South Africa come home with more than a tan after
a "scalpel safari". MARIANNE HERON reports.
A new breed of tourist to South Africa is returning
home with more than a tan to account for their glowing good
looks. The secret lies not only in the holiday of a lifetime
in game parks or the Cape winelands but the chance to transform
face or figure at the same time. Their secret is an unusual
partnership between surgical skill and tourism, which comes
packaged in luxury. Enterprising tour operators there are
currently around 10 of them have spotted the potential of
plastic surgery, at a fraction of European prices, combined
with exotic African adventure. And their offers are attracting
an increasing number of overseas visitors to take "scalpel
safaris". In Ireland and the UK, the tendency is for people
to go into hiding post-operatively. South Africa where nips
tucks and boob jobs are fair game for table talk offers privacy
with a perfect holiday alibi to cover for absence.
A big part of the attraction is the saving involved in world-
class surgery which can more than cover the cost of the holiday.
This is due both to the fact that the South African currency,
the Rand, has fallen in value in recent months and the fact
that prices in South Africa are much lower than those in Europe.
When clients opt for multiple procedures breast augmentation
with liposuction and a tummy tuck or a face and eye lift are
popular combinations the trip becomes even more cost effective
FINANCE WEEK
PLASTIC SURGERY
8th February, 2002 Mom, I wanted to be a pretty
boy
It's official - men are just as vein as
woman
By Handrie Basson
WOMEN are usually the ones to opt for wrinkle
fixes, liposuction and face lifts, right? Wrong.
More than a million American men underwent cosmetic plastic
surgery in 2000, accounting for 14% of these operations. And
though the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS) does
not have the latest figures available, the society's president
Walter Erhardt said there can be no doubting the trend. "The
statistics confirm what we see in our practices. The general
stigma attached to cosmetic surgery as a privilege for the
rich and famous is disappearing. Moreover, men are becoming
more aware of their looks, with many opting for plastic surgery
to improve their looks," he says. Though in SA, mainly women
opt for this type of beauty treatment, the number of male
patients is on the increase. As in the US, cosmetic operations
on men are mainly nose and eyelid jobs. They also have hair
transplants and undergo liposuction to remove fat.
Dr Tom Ford, secretary of the Association of Plastic & Reconstructive
Surgery of SA (APRSSA), says many people have unrealistic
expectations of plastic surgery. "It's important for people
to be realistic about their physical image, for we cannot
perform miracles.
That's why surgeons must first discuss the matter with prospective
patients. A plastic surgeon makes a living from performing
operations. But he builds his reputation on not performing
operations." Ford says he regularly turns away people not
suited to an operation. APRSSA was formed in 1956 and has
over 120 members today. Ford says that SA unfortunately does
not have the same type of statistics as the US because SA
law prohibits publicising details of an operation.
The fact is that people, especially men, are getting used
to the idea of plastic surgery. The next time your boss returns
from holiday saying it's the fresh Cape sea air and sunshine
that made him look so young, take it with a pinch of salt.
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