Sun, sea and surgery

The changing face of the UAE is no longer limited to the country's sprawling construction sites – as the Emirates carves out a reputation as an international centre for cosmetic surgery.

Experts say the highly lucrative nip-tuck industry is increasingly forming an integral part of the region's healthcare sector, with Dubai leading the charge in the GCC.

Liposuction, nose-reshaping and tummy tucks top the list of elective surgery in the emirate, with many people attracted by prices lower than the United States and Europe. And customers are choosing to combine cosmetic surgery with a five-star holiday – to return to their native country not only bronzed and relaxed, but reshaped and reinvigorated.

"When it comes to breast enhancements and liposuction, the results are unbeatable even if you go to a leading cosmetic surgeon in, say, Los Angeles," said Gail Clough, an independent cosmetic surgery consultant and partner in Dubai Surgery, which promotes the UAE to potential UK patients.

She said it had seen 20 per cent growth in the number of appointments each year since opening – and men now make up one-fifth of all patients, choosing mainly rhinoplasty (nose jobs) and liposuction. Overall, the country expects to receive 11.2 million medical tourists by 2010, but the rising figures will be matched by competition from other cities.

"Dubai boasts state-of-the-art hospitals, with rooms that are more like hotel rooms than hospital rooms, which is very important to my clientele. They want pampering, even in a hospital," said Clough.

Breast augmentation in Dubai will cost a patient between Dh20,000 and Dh40,000, depending on the clinic, compared to $5,000 (Dh18,000) to $10,000 (Dh37,000) in the US and UK, and about $2,600 (Dh9,500) in Thailand. In Dubai, the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital (AACSH), the first hospital to open in Dubai Healthcare City, was established to cater mainly to foreign patients. Since it opened in April, AACSH, which claims to be the only dedicated cosmetic surgery hospital in the world, said its patient numbers were much higher than originally anticipated.

Dr Jeehan Qadir, AACSH's Executive Chairperson and laser dermatologist, said the hospital's clients came mainly from Saudi Arabia, followed by Kuwait, Libya, Russia, India, the UK, Qatar and Iran. "The AACSH infrastructure was designed to see clients from different places in the world, in terms of quality, room sizes, capacity and strategies. Most of our clients are from the surrounding region," she said.

Unicare Medical Centre in Dubai said its clientele was made up of a significant number of foreign nationals – and treats at least two clients from overseas each month, mainly Nigeria and Iraq. One driving force behind the steady growth of elective cosmetic surgery is the significant levels of disposable cash in the region, industry experts say.

"Visitors to Dubai tend to have a reasonable level of liquidity, and with respect to cosmetics, for the most part it is about people deciding to have this treatment through choice, not through necessity," said John Hassett, Exhibitions Director at IIR Middle East's healthcare division, which organises health expos including this November's Healthcare Travel Exhibition and Congress in Dubai. "Cosmetic surgery will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with cardiovascular and orthopaedic surgeries as the most common procedures, in line with most medical tourist destinations," Hassett said. British patients – historically reluctant to go under the knife for nip-tuck procedures – are also increasing in number and travelling abroad to receive private treatment. A seachange in attitudes to cosmetic surgery in the UK has certainly been triggered by low prices abroad – and high prices in Europe – according to www.treatmentabroad.com.

The healthcare service website said hotels, flights and treatment overseas can cost up to 70 per cent less than British private hospitals. "Nearly all my patients are from the UK," said Clough. "There is a 20 per cent tax on drugs there, which saves a considerable amount on their bill. The money they spend goes towards a better surgeon rather than getting eaten away with tax and overheads." Equally, some clinics advertise 'surgery packages' featuring airport transfer, accommodation and hospital costs on top of the inclusive surgeon's fees and anaesthesia charges.

However, in parts of North America, where plastic surgery is not only big business but a lifestyle choice for many, patients have said there was little cost saving by having surgery abroad.

Helen [not her real name] is a 28-year-old sales manager of an international hotel chain in Toronto, Canada, who spent $5,000 on breast augmentation. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she told Emirates Business she and her friends who had chosen cosmetic surgery had never considered going abroad. "The cost to get there, recovery time, and not knowing the doctors' reputations would deter me," she said. "It's hard to do proper research from abroad and I chose my surgeon based on a recommendation."

After undergoing breast augmentation nearly eight years ago, Helen is now considering laser liposuction.

"I still wouldn't consider Dubai unless it was a world-renowned doctor practicing there, plus there was a holiday promotion included, because we have got amazing doctors in Canada. These are not simple procedures and can potentially be life-threatening – standards around the world are different and I would be a little nervous."


Cutting costs

Liposuction: Dh20,000 to Dh45,000

Breast Augmentation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000

Tummy tucks:
- Full: Dh28,000 to Dh35,000
- Mini: Dh25,000 to 28,000

Rhinoplasty (nose job): Dh18,000 to Dh22,000

Hair Transplantation: Dh18,000 to Dh25,000


Nip-Tuck industry in the pink

The UAE expects to receive 11.2 million medical tourists by 2010. However, the number of foreign patients visiting its main competitors in Asia will also seeing steady growth, with rises of up to 30 per cent each year predicted.

Singapore aims to attract one million foreign patients annually by 2012. The city-state currently treats more than 250,000 visitors a year, with nearly half of those from the Middle East.

India is expected to receive about half a million foreign patients this year, up from 150,000 in 2002.

The country's medical tourism market is forecast to be a $22 billion business within six years. Thailand's Tourism Authority expects the number of international health tourists to grow to 1.69 million this year, with more than 150,000 patients from the Middle East.

The country – which received 1.4 million medical tourists last year – aims to attract 265,000 patients alone from neighbouring Indonesia.

Currently, 30 per cent of patients treated in Jordan are foreigners and, according to research from Deloitte.

The figures show heart by-pass surgery with a price tag of at least $130,000 in the States will cost about $18,500 in Singapore and $11,000 in Thailand.

In the UAE, the same surgery costs $44,000. Higher costs are expected to be a key challenge facing the Emirates as it bids to attract medical tourists.

However, Dubai is building a reputation for high-quality medicine – a factor that doesn't always carry a price tag.

"Dubai has a couple of the best cosmetic surgeons in the business residing permanently here now," said Dubai Surgery's Gail Clough.

"It is more about quality than price and knowing which surgeons are good at what – there are good and bad surgeons in every country." Dr Jeehan Qadir, of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital in Dubai, said: "Our cosmetic surgery costs are reasonable although the standard is the highest in the world.

"If people have [the same done] in Manhattan, which is the standard we provide, they pay triple our prices."

The Dh6bn Dubai Healthcare City is one of a number of projects aimed at boosting revenue from medical tourism and reducing the export of medical revenue out of the region.