Medical Tourism South Africa Part 2 – Johannesburg

On a global stage, South Africa’s involvement in medical tourism is rather minimal but for the continent of Africa, RSA continues to be a leader for attracting medical travelers at reasonable costs.  

Similar to the healthcare system in the UK, there is a public and a private health care system which collaborates hand in hand with the country’s medical schools to produce internationally recognized medical specialists.  

The first human heart transplant was performed in the city of Cape Town nearly 45 years ago in 1967. Since then, the country has been attracting many leading innovative specialists and device representatives to its hospitals. South Africa is known for:  

• Cosmetic Surgery
• Dentistry

   

Popular nationalities undergoing plastic surgery in RSA:  

• British
• Italians
• Germans
• Dutch

Watch this video: 

    

Medical Travelers also undergo:  

• Organ transplants
• Heart surgery
• Orthopaedic surgery
• Obesity Surgery
• Breast augmentation/reduction
• Face lists
• Liposuction
• Rhinoplasty (Nose surgery)
• Ear reformation
• Implants
• Eye surgery
• Lasik
• Fertility treatments

On the tourism side of its medicine, South Africa is notorious for its mild climate, sunshine all year-long, breathtaking scenery and landscapes and not to mention, a wide variety of wild animals in their native habitats. The access to two oceans makes the country spectacular for tourism. (More on Tourism in part 5)  

Image      

For the thousands of medical travelers who visit RSA every year, nature and the wilderness along with getting treated at lower costs are the major enticements that make them choose this location which is hard to match in a different territory on the globe.  

The tourism industry of RSA has been working very closely with its healthcare sector because they have realized that their country’s natural wonders can have an immense impact on the recovery process for post-operative patients encouraged to relax by their physician. A little exploration doesn’t hurt either.  

Hospitals of Johannesburg: Johannesburg, RSA’s largest city is the capital of the province of Gauteng. One major player in the health care industry is Netcare. 

Netcare is home to 14 hospitals in Johannesburg:  

 

    

Click here to go to Netcare’s site for its affiliated hospitals in Johannesburg (Province of Gauteng).   

    

Dr. Scoll is a plastic surgeon in South Africa and he offers the following information on his website related to cost (very helpful):    

Cost:    

Plastic Surgery Cost in South Africa is much cheaper than in the united States or in Great Britain, namely because of the weak currency.

BREAST AUGMENTATION:	R35000
BREAST REDUCTION / LIFT:	R33500-R38500
FACELIFTS:	R40000 upwards
UPPER EYELIDS:	R12000
LOWER EYELIDS:	R16500
LABIAPLASTY:	R17000
RHINOPLASTY:	R38000-R42000
CHIN IMPLANT:	R23000 + COST OF IMPLANT
TUMMY TUCKS:	R35000-R42000
LIPOSUCTION:	Very variable – usually upwards of R25000

FEES FOR 2010    

Consult fees: R500. This is booked for one hour. The fee is payable as a “once-off” fee with the first consultation – no subsequent consults are charged, either before or after surgery. Payment can be either: cash, debit or credit card, or bank transfer (done pre-consult).    

INJECTABLE GELS (Restylane, Perlane, Juvederm Ultra) R3000 per 1cc vial.
Most useful for soft tissue augmentation of lips and naso-labial folds.    

BOTOX – 3 possible treatment areas, each uses 20 units of botox.
Most useful for diminishing mimetic lines in the upper 1/3 of the face.    

1 = Frown lines (vertical lines)
2 = Forehead lines (transverse lines)
3 = Crow’s feet (sides of eyes)    

Costs for botox:
Any 1 area = R1300 (20 units)
Any 2 areas = R2500 (40 units)
All 3 areas = R3600 (60 units)    

Thank you Dr. Scoll for all the informative provided.     

In part 3, we explore the health care activity in Cape Town. Stay tuned and keep watching the world cup! Talk to you soon.