Illicit facilities damage health sector: Expert

ISTANBUL

Illegal establishments that provide health services or conduct surgeries without proper licensing, particularly in the field of aesthetic procedures, are causing harm to the health care sector in the country while simultaneously adversely impacting international medical tourism, the head of an obesity surgery foundation has warned.

Oktay Banlı pointed out that some unapproved entities have been performing procedures such as gastric reduction, gastric balloon insertion, or aesthetic surgeries, which have recently resulted in patient fatalities, reminding that the British authorities have recently cautioned their citizens against seeking cheap medical operations in Türkiye.

"In recent years, Türkiye has made significant strides in health tourism. Thousands of patients from numerous states around the world have come to our country for treatment. Primarily focusing on aesthetic procedures, as patient satisfaction increased, it led to a rise in the number of patients in other medical fields," Banlı said.

"However, over time, certain procedures began to be performed in unregulated, unhygienic and unscientific settings, often at very low prices. This, in turn, brought along associated problems."

Banlı noted that all of these issues have started to gain prominence in foreign media, overshadowing the thousands of successful procedures and leading to a decrease in the number of patients coming from certain countries.