Beauty Seekers Spot Serbia’s Cosmetic Benefits

Beauty treatments in Serbia are much cheaper than in EU. | Photo by Ambro

Along with bottles of rakija brandy and magnets containing pictures of the Serbian landscapes, white crowns, filled teeth, lifted breasts and even a new gender are some of the newer souvenirs that foreigners can obtain these days in Serbia – and at far lower prices than in West Europe or US.

While breast implants in the UK cost between €4,000 and €6,000 on average, in Serbia the price is about €2,500. And while the price in the UK can go up to €30,000, the highest price in Serbia is about €4,000.

The average price of nose surgery in Serbia is €1,500, half of what it costs in Austria.
The cost of dental services is also a fraction of the price that a client would pay in a private clinic in Western Europe or the US.

A ceramic crown in Serbia costs €80 and a filling between €20 and €30. More complex oral procedures, such as tooth extraction, cost between €50 and €120. Teeth whitening costs from €180 to €270. In Austria the same treatment costs about €1,300.

Although medical tourism in Serbia is still in its infancy, the industry is certainly making strides.

Most foreign patients come for dental services for which Serbia has a good reputation, but a growing number seek breast lifts and enlargements, eyelid surgery, facelifts and liposuction.

The majority of visitors who come to Serbia for medical services are not entirely “foreign”. | Photo by Ambro

Given the low prices charged by its private clinics for this surgery, Belgrade is also becoming more popular as a destination for people seeking to arrive in one gender and leave in another.

Since the first sex reassignment operation was carried out in 1989, about 150 people have made the change in Serbia. About 15 to 20 foreigners now have such operations in Serbia every year.

While this procedure costs between €10,000 and €20,000 in the US, the price in Serbia’s private clinics is a mere 200,000 dinars (€2,000).

“Although many of our foreign patients come for breast implants or liposuction, the clinic is most famous for our urologist who does sex changes,” the spokesperson of the private hospital Medical System Belgrade says.

Stana Tadic, from Afeja, an agency that connects foreign patients with local clinics, says the largest number of foreigners come from Austria, Germany and from Serbia’s neighbouring countries – Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia.

“In the past year people also started coming from Sweden, Ireland, Cyprus, Canada, the US and Australia,” Tadic says.

But the majority of visitors who come to Serbia for medical services are not entirely “foreign”.

“Most have a Serbian background. They come for a vacation back home and depending on how long they stay they go for an eyelid lifting, lips augmentation or breast implants,” Magdalena Krupez, from the OREA plastic surgery clinic, says.

Krupez explains that, along with the lower prices that Serbia offers, Serbian expats feel more confident having surgery done in their country of origin.

A survey that the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions published in mid-2011 showed that although the majority of patients worldwide prefer to get health care locally, many are prepared to travel abroad.

About 13 per cent of the Swiss and Brazilians interviewed said they would go abroad for elective health care, such as cosmetic surgery or dental treatments.

Many patients are prepared to travel abroad. | Photo by Ambro

Those willing to travel said that important criteria for their decision would be superior quality, greater availability of providers, lower cost, and more advanced facilities and technology.

According to a report of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, Health at a Glance 2011, released last November, Americans spent €450 million on medical care outside the US in 2009.

In 2009, people from OECD member countries spent €4.5 billion on health-related travels. But the report writes that “due to data gaps and under-reporting, this is likely to be a significant underestimate”.

In Serbia the industry is still in its early stages. Although when it comes to expertise, Serbia has competent surgeons in all the fields in demand, the promotional side of the industry is poor.

To encourage clients, Serbian agencies such as Belgrade’s Afeja or Sky Centre from Nis offer whole service, hotel accommodation, greeting, airport transport, transport from and to treatments and sightseeing.

“We have really competent doctors, good service, and Belgrade’s image is improving, but more needs to be done,” says Krupez, from the OREA plastic surgery clinic.

“First of all there is the image of Serbia. For patients to seek medical care in a foreign country, they need to feel safe and secure,” Krupez adds.

“That means that overall political situation must be stable, so that patients may feel confident.”