Unhealthy surgery.

Blessed with classical good looks, a firm muscular body, a fine head of hair, all my own (albeit snaggly) teeth, and a youthful complexion I have never felt the need to resort to cosmetic surgery (Unlike Snr Berlusconi who has had several "treatments", includinghair transplant / eyelids / face lift - see pic). Last week, the small breasted, big buttocked, bent nosed and sad lined faces thronged Olympia for the Body Beautiful 2005 exhibition.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons claims to have recorded 16,367 cosmetic procedures in the UK 2004 - which is well up from a total of 10,738 in 2003. Of the people undergoing these procedures, 92% were women, and the most requested surgery was breast augmentation.

It is big and boomingbusiness. The most widely advertised group in the UK is Cheshire based Transform with 22 clinics and 30 years experience in preying on the vain in the UK.

It is an expensive, and one suspects, a very lucrative business, which unavailable on the National Health – except for injuries, post operative work for breast cancer.

Increasingly therefore many are combining a holiday trip with a visit abroad for cosmetic surgery in low cost clinics in a startling range of countries. You can combine a relaxing break, away from the pressures of daily life, with a stay in one of the overseas cosmetic surgery clinics which are now attracting patients from the UK , US Mainland Europe and amazingly Australia (where it was stated this week that 62% of adult makes are obese) the procedures are well established and the success rates are high for - Blepharoplasty (nose jobs), Liposuction, Otoplasty (ear jobs), Face lifts, Hair transplants, Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), Breast implants or reduction surgery, and Botox facial treatments even labia minora re-shaping and Anal bleaching (don't ask!).

Of course if it all goes wrong - don't expect much help or compensation.

The new you, for the wannabe glamour puss (pic Miss Lola Ferrari who had 3 successive implants and died) is just a plane ride away, and all this is peddled , wrapped up in a luxury holiday.

The destinations are many, various and remarkable -

Cosmetica in Tunis which was featured on GMTV program LK Today on Thursday 6th January 2005, Cosmetic surgery abroad in Barcelona, Evolution cosmetics in Johannesburg, DrKapositas in Athens, RS Cosmetic Clinic in Cairo , Beautiful Beings in Prague , Clinic beauCare in Brussels and Utrecht , Dr Toncic, Zagreb , Croatia. It is noteworthy that they look for customers from the UK, America and Australia.http://www.toncic.net/eng/index.html

Cosmetic dentistry is not available for adults on the NHS, or if available, involves considerable expense – this involves everything from teeth whitening, orthodontics, teeth replacement with titanium implants, and even sparkling “gem” implants. This is also available in such a package but is still in its infancy.

The British Hungarian service, Dr. Volom Aesthetic and also both General Dental Surgery, and Kreativ Dental, all based in Budapest will provide a total package , travel, hotels, airport collection – They all specialise in tooth insertion which they claim provides improved appearance, speech, comfort, eating more self-esteem and better oral health and convenience. It is noteworthy that they look for customers from the UK, America and Australia.

An Estonian clinic offers similar services in Talinn.

Meanwhile the UK , Health Minister Patricia Hewitt announced today that the UK has agreed a contract with the South African Netcare healthcare company for production line / low cost Cataract surgery – selection of the company is very controversial , some of whose Directors are up on charges (BMJ report) with some Israeli doctors on charges of having used donors for renal transplants who were paid to supply their organs. The donors were mostly poor Brazilians willing to sell a kidney for up to $10 000 (£5400; €8000) each. The recipients were Israelis who paid up to 10 times that amount for a kidney. Most of the transplantations, said to number in the hundreds, are alleged to have taken place in two hospitals owned by the Netcare group, with most done at St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban.

It is alleged that when the scheme was running, donors had their passports confiscated on arrival in South Africa, and were provided with a low standard of hotel accommodation. As the investigators arrested participants in the scheme, several of the poorer Brazilian donors found themselves not only without a kidney but without payment when they got back to Brazil.