Foreign patients place great importance on the experience and references of physicians. One such physician is Prof. Dr. \u015e\u00fckr\u00fc Yazar, a specialist in Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery. He answers our question about why T\u00fcrkiye is preferred by patients from many parts of the world for plastic surgery as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The presence of many experienced plastic surgeons in Turkey, their international recognition, academic reputation, and social media presence, along with the equipment and quality of private hospitals in our country, the establishment of international offices in these hospitals, the availability of plastic surgery operations at more affordable prices compared to European countries, and Turkey’s tourist appeal, have made us one of the leading countries in health tourism. While in previous years patients flocked to the USA and Europe, today, due to the reasons mentioned above, Turkey has begun to attract patients from Europe, the Middle East, Iran, Azerbaijan and other Turkic Republics, and Russia.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. \u015e\u00fckr\u00fc Yazar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding our question about which countries most patients come from, Prof. Dr. Yazar says the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There is a significant influx of patients from the Middle East and Arab countries. On the other hand, the number of patients coming from Azerbaijan and other European countries, primarily from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, is also considerable. Our citizens who are working in Europe also prefer T\u00fcrkiye by combining these procedures with their holidays.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what are the most common procedures in health tourism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Unfortunately, we don’t have numerical data because many unregistered procedures occur in this field. However, we know that the most frequently performed procedures are hair transplantation and cosmetic rhinoplasty and breast surgery. Besides plastic surgery, there are also many patients coming for dental and eye surgeries. On the other hand, we see that patients, especially from neighboring countries, with serious injuries such as war wounds and burns requiring extensive repair, also come to our country through international agreements.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Yazar says that health tourism was somewhat affected in the early stages of the pandemic, but foreign patients continued to arrive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “There was a period when elective (non-essential) surgeries were stopped, and no surgical or non-surgical procedures were performed; we were completely closed. These decisions were positive in order to avoid burdening hospitals. We supported them and implemented them meticulously. During this period, we can say that patients planning surgical procedures turned to non-surgical methods, but after surgeries were allowed again, the demand for surgical procedures increased again. People wanted to take advantage of this period where they could rest comfortably, wear masks, and socialize in limited ways. However, we are currently in a period of resurgence in the pandemic, and I don’t think we can regain our previous strength until the vaccine becomes widespread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Health tourism was even more affected, as many countries closed their borders, hotels were closed, and there was no room for any tourism activity. Although our borders were open, people preferred to be cautious during this period, but although the number of foreign patients decreased, they are still there, and the distribution is not different from the high season; hair transplantation is still the most common procedure, followed by rhinoplasty and breast aesthetics.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n