Thousands of Foreigners seek IVF and plastic surgery at Czech clinics
Prague :(ČTK)
Artificial fertilization and plastic surgery are the two most frequent types of care foreigners seek at Czech clinics, Ondřej Šebestík, from HealthCzech company, has told ČTK adding that this is mainly due to about half-costs and a comparable quality.
The “medical tourists” come mainly from Austria, Britain, Germany and Russia.
Šebestík said the foreign patients spend hundreds of millions of crowns in the Czech Republic annually.
“In 2012, the Czech Republic was the second-most sought destination of Britons’ medical tourism,” Šebestík said.
According to preliminary estimates, the number of foreign medical tourists further rose last year and the growing popularity of Czech clinics is confirmed by foreign surveys as well as the Czech clinics’ figures.
About 1,000 foreign patients spent over 65 million Kč in the Iscare clinical centre alone last year.
“Our center, focused on foreigners, particularly Germans, can confirm a growing interest in treatments in the Czech Republic,” its director František Lambert told ČTK.
He said the clients pay an average of 65,000 Kč per surgery. Combined plastic operations may even cost hundreds of thousands of crowns.
Czech legislation is “more flexible” particularly in the field of assisted reproduction. It enables the use of anonymously donated sperm and eggs.
“We estimate between 4,000 and 5,000 IVF cycles having been performed in foreign clients in the Czech Republic last year,” Oliver Nosek, executive of Eizell-spende IVF, said.
The center focuses on German medical tourists.
source: http://www.praguepost.com / Prague Post / Home> Czech New / by Czech News Agency / March 08th, 2014
