Cheap Liposuction

One of the main reasons UK citizens are going to countries such as Spain, Greece, Germany, South Africa and Eastern Europe for liposuction surgery is the cost savings. For those who do not mind traveling further, they are more choices in South Africa, Thailand or Argentina or even India.

A typical liposuction procedure for the hips can cost up to US $2,500 in UK private hospitals. In Eastern European countries such as Hungary or Poland, this price is slashed down to US $1,000, resulting in an immediate cost savings of US $1,500. If you don’t mind traveling further, for the same price, Indian hospitals will throw in an additional tummy tuck procedure. The same goes for hospitals in Thailand whereby free holidays to exotic Phuket or Bangkok are included as part of the entire liposuction deal. The best-known addresses in Bangkok are Bumrungrad Hospital and PAI (Peecha Aesthetic Institute), the latter primarily because their public relations activities on sex change operations have been repeatedly picked up by the international media. These Bangkok hospitals are engaged in fierce competition with others in nearby Singapore to attract newly-rich Chinese and Middle Eastern health tourists.

In Singapore, the government is actively involved in and largely successful in attracting health tourists. Though liposuction is not as cheap as compared to other Asian countries, Singapore has a first world healthcare system with excellent infrastructure and the presence of several world class surgeons such as Woffles Wu, reputed to be one of the best.

Many people have raised concerns about the standard of liposuction surgery in these countries and they wonder how they can charge prices at 60% lower than a UK or US hospital. It is perceived that actual costs are hidden somewhere for overly cheap packages.

This perception used to be true in the past. But with rapid globalization, proliferation of budget airlines and aggressive promotions often conducted with government assistance, it is estimated that 500,000 people had traveled to India for medical treatments in 2005 alone. For example, in the Euro zone, UK doctors are the highest paid while Polish doctors earn substantially less. The difference in wages often creates fantastic opportunities for patients seeking cheap liposuction.