Intended for healthcare professionals

Letters Cosmetic surgery advertising

Discussion on banning advertising of cosmetic surgery needs to consider medical tourists

BMJ 2012; 345 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e7997 (Published 26 November 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;345:e7997
  1. Johanna Hanefeld, lecturer in health systems economics1,
  2. Neil Lunt, senior lecturer in social policy and public management2,
  3. Daniel Horsfall, lecturer in comparative social policy2,
  4. Richard Smith, professor of health system economics, and dean1
  1. 1Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1H 9SH, UK
  2. 2University of York, York, UK
  1. Johanna.Hanefeld{at}lshtm.ac.uk

The discussion on banning advertising of cosmetic surgery neglects an important aspect of safeguarding UK consumers from direct marketing by cosmetic surgery providers to the public1: an increasing number of UK patients travel abroad for cosmetic surgery.

In 2010, 63 000 UK residents travelled to access treatment abroad.2 Our research indicates that around 30% …

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