The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has urged tourists not to travel to Turkey, not because of the risk of repeated earthquakes, but because of a dozen cases of botox poisoning at private clinics in Istanbul and Izmir. The corresponding statement was published on the website of the state body.
In recent years, medical tourism to the republic has become popular among Europeans. Services in Turkey are much cheaper compared to the countries of the European Union and Great Britain. However, the state body studied statistics and found out that in the last three weeks, 67 cases of poisoning related to injections of botulinum neurotoxin were registered. Symptoms ranged from mild to severe, with several cases resulting in hospitalization. Geographically, the victims were distributed as follows: 12 cases were registered in Germany, 1 in Austria, 1 in Switzerland, and the rest among Turkish patients in two unnamed clinics.
All patients received medical care aimed at helping them lose weight. ECDC strongly urges EU citizens to refrain from intragastric botulinum toxin treatment for obesity in Turkey, as this condition is currently associated with severe botox poisoning,” the statement read.
An examination conducted by the health authorities showed that many patients were transferred to the intensive care unit. The ECDC said it was not yet clear whether the poisonings were caused by the injection method or the use of unlicensed slimming products, and announced the suspension of the relevant departments at both hospitals and the opening of an investigation.
Let’s turn to the website of one of the similar Turkish clinics. “The Turkish clinic offers gastric Botox much cheaper. Every year, thousands of people come to Turkey from countries such as Great Britain, the USA, and Canada,” – it is not surprising that such an obvious advantage attracts Europeans. The average cost of treatment in Turkey, a popular destination for plastic surgery and gastric botox for weight loss, is one-fifth of the cost of treatment in the UK.
According to official statistics, more than 1.2 million people visited Turkey last year for medical treatment. Among the services provided are gynecological procedures, vision problems, ENT diseases, orthopedics, and dental surgery. Thanks to the flow from abroad, Turkey has become an important center for plastic surgery and ranks seventh among the countries with the highest number of plastic surgeries in the world.
The head of the Turkish Health Tourism Association, Servet Terziler, said in the local media that in 2022, about 1 million people will come to Turkey for hair transplant surgery. And the Turkish Association of Industrial Dentists and Businessmen reported about 100,000 people to come to Turkey every year for dental treatment. The amount that foreigners spend on medical procedures reached $1.9 billion in 2022. Despite the warnings of the European authorities, their citizens continue to travel for medicine to the republic, and Turkey itself stated that it intends to receive 1.5 million medical tourists in 2023 and raise its income to $10 billion.
Reference: Slimming with Botox is very popular in clinics. According to doctors, this is a good alternative to surgery. The procedure itself takes only 25 minutes, hospitalization is not required. With the help of an endoscope, a special needle with Botox is inserted into the abdominal cavity – the place where the nerves that are responsible for the feeling of hunger or satiety are located. In this way, the nerves stop performing their function: the obese patient no longer feels hungry and can eat small amounts of food. Injections can be repeated.