The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has urged tourists not to travel to Turkey from outside -for the risk of repeated earthquakes, and because of a dozen cases of Botox poisoning in private clinics in Istanbul and Izmir. The corresponding statement was published on the website of the state agency.
In recent years, medical tourism to the republic has become popular among Europeans. Services in Turkey are much cheaper compared to EU countries and the UK. However, the state agency studied the statistics and found that over the past three weeks, 67 cases of poisoning associated with injections of botulinum neurotoxin have been registered. Symptoms ranged from mild to severe, with several cases resulting in hospitalization. The geographical distribution of the victims was 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 to lose weight. ECDC urges EU citizens to refrain from intragastric treatment of obesity with botulinum toxin in Turkey as the condition is currently associated with severe botox poisoning,” the statement said.
A survey conducted by the health authorities showed that a large number of patients were transferred to intensive care. The ECDC reported that it is not yet clear whether the poisonings were caused by the injection method or the use of unlicensed weight loss products, and announced the suspension of the relevant departments of both hospitals and the start of an investigation.
Let's turn to the site of one of these Turkish clinics. “The Turkish clinic offers gastric Botox much cheaper. Thousands of people come to Turkey every year from countries such as the UK, the US 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 that 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 influx 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, told local media that in 2022, about 1 million people came to Turkey for hair transplant surgery. And the Turkish Association of Dental Industrialists and Businessmen reported about 100 thousand people who annually come to Turkey 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 to the republic for medicine, and Turkey itself has stated that it intends to receive 1.5 million medical tourists in 2023 and raise its income to $10 billion.
Reference< /em>: Slimming with Botox is very popular in clinics. According to doctors, this is a good alternative to surgical interventions. 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 – where the nerves that are responsible for the feeling of hunger or satiety are located. Thus, the nerves cease to perform their function: the obese patient no longer feels hungry and can fill up with a small amount of food. Injections can be repeated.
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