[칼럼] We hope that Korea will become a global mecca for hair transplantation.

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Koh Sang-jin, CEO of Momo Clinic Busan Branch

[파이낸셜뉴스] There is a country where millions of hair loss patients from all over the world gather. This is Turkiye, located in Europe.

According to a survey by the Turkiye Health Tourism Association, the Turkiye hair transplant medical tourism market recorded $2 billion (about 2.7 trillion won) in 2022 and is expected to exceed $11 billion (about 15 trillion won) this year. In Korea, some patients who need a large amount of hair transplant visit Turkiye to receive hair transplant.

The reason Turkiye has become a mecca for hair loss patients is because of its low cost and active support from the government.

The price of hair transplant in Turkye is one-eighth of the price in countries where hair transplant costs are expensive, such as the UK and the US, and even including airfare and lodging costs, it is only half.

In addition, the Turkiye government provides tax reductions and refunds on medical equipment, marketing costs, hotel rooms, etc. related to hair transplant medical tourism, and even Turkiye’s national flag carrier, Turkiye Airlines, offers a 50% discount on airline tickets to customers visiting Turkiye for hair transplantation. Give a discount.

However, Turkiye hair transplant does not only have advantages.

Competition is so intense that there are about 4,000 plastic surgery clinics specializing in hair transplantation in the capital city of Istanbul alone. In order to secure price competitiveness, many hospitals mainly use medical staff with low labor costs, and since they treat many patients quickly and inexpensively, there are stories of low completion rate and side effects, as well as difficulty in follow-up care for pain and folliculitis, according to a hair transplant recipient in Turkye. It’s coming out among patients.

In comparison, Korea boasts outstanding technological prowess in the hair transplant field.

In Korea, there is a well-established medical institution system that focuses solely on hair transplantation. According to a survey by a healthcare company, there are about 210 hair transplant specialists in about 140 hair transplant-focused medical institutions nationwide. Some medical institutions have a nationwide network and large scale, and boast not only excellent surgical skills of doctors but also experience in thousands of hair transplants.

In addition, most hair transplant hospitals use the non-incision (FUE) method, which has a high survival rate of transplanted hair, density control to make hair appear fuller with the same amount of hair, and fine hair transplantation that creates a natural border between the forehead and head. We pursue high patient satisfaction through various new hair transplant techniques.

Medical staff from many countries, including Japan, China, and Southeast Asia, are already visiting Korea to learn advanced hair transplant techniques, and famous domestic hospitals and clinics, including Korea’s leading hair transplant-focused medical institution where I worked until recently, are offering separate training programs for foreign doctors. It is in operation.

Compared to the excellent level of hair transplantation, the cost is relatively low, making it highly cost-effective. Compared to countries such as the UK and the US mentioned earlier, hair transplantation in Korea has a higher degree of perfection, but the cost is less than half.

Nevertheless, one of the many reasons why medical tourism is not active in the hair transplant field is related to the registration system for medical institutions that attract foreign patients.

The registration system for medical institutions attracting foreign patients requires medical institutions wishing to attract foreign patients to register with the city or city having jurisdiction over the medical institution in accordance with Article 6 of the Act on Overseas Medical Expansion and Attracting Foreign Patients. It is essential to have other medical staff.

However, in the case of hair transplantation, the reality is that there are no relevant specialist qualifications. In the end, it is no exaggeration to say that even if a hair transplant is a general practitioner, experience such as the number of surgeries performed and the number of transplant parameters is a measure of expertise.

Hair transplant-focused medical institutions that do not have specialist qualifications but have doctors with expertise can register as medical institutions to attract foreign patients through system improvement, thereby contributing to the revitalization of Korea’s medical tourism industry and the strengthening of K-Medical’s international status. I wish I could.

/ Momo Clinic Busan branch representative director Sangjin Ko

[email protected] Medical reporter Jeong Myeong-jin

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