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IN PHYSICAL THERAPY: THERE ARE MORE THAN 5 THOUSAND ILLEGAL AND UNDER-THE-STAIRS ENTERPRISES IN TURKEY
Turkey Medicals – Increasing suspicious deaths after plastic surgeries or patients who go to the physical therapy center and have growing health problems have brought businesses under the stairs to the agenda. According to the Turkish Health Tourism Development Council, there are more than 5 thousand illegal transmissions in the field of physical therapy alone.
An American who came to Turkey for fat removal and hair transplantation but became ill 2 days after having the procedure and lost his life; an Irish citizen who became ill and died after having cheek and arm lift surgery in Istanbul a few days ago, patients whose complaints increased even more after the physical therapy center she went to.
In the recent period, increasing suspicious deaths after plastic surgeries or the increase in the number of patients who go to places called physical therapy and rehabilitation centers and whose health problems are growing more and more, have brought businesses under the stairs to the agenda.
The Chairman of the Executive Board of the Health Tourism Development Council of Turkey, who has warned about these under-stairs enterprises that both threaten public health and undermine health tourism, is Dr., said that there are businesses that provide services in an ‘illegal’ way, despite the fact that they do not have a license.
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In the information note provided by Turkey Medicals, “There are unlicensed / illegal physical therapy centers in Turkey, the number of which we estimate to be over 5 thousand,” was explained.
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THEY ARE FINDING PATIENTS WITH DIGITAL ADVERTISING, THEIR NUMBER HAS INCREASED
Dr. according to him, the first of the illegal enterprises are wellness centers.
Some of them are units licensed from municipalities as wellness centers and where physiotherapists can only provide physical activity counseling, while some of them consist of completely anonymous, unknown units.
”Physiotherapists can only describe the activity defined by a physician to a person, they can never treat the patient,“ Doctor warned, “The municipality cannot control the internal health process, it is not its subject. We are complaining to the Ministry of Health. The ministry also said, ‘This place is licensed by the municipality.’ says. There is a legal deficit here. They use this legal loophole very well,” was said.
”They find patients with social media and digital ads,” said Dr. “The number of unlicensed /illegal physical therapy centers in fitness, wellness and pilates centers is also increasing every day,” was warned.
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THERE ARE EVEN VILLAGES, THEY APPLY THE WRONG TREATMENT
He is also a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Specialist, Dr., “Currently, healthy living centers are being opened even in districts and villages of Turkey. In these places, physiotherapists establish physical therapy centers with the hülle method, examine patients, treat patients with false diagnoses, and many problems arise,” was said.
Noting that some treatment methods that have not been scientifically and clinically proven to be effective are also used in some centers, Doctor said, “For example, there is a treatment method called GTOS. Patients are told that they will be fine in 1-2 sessions. There is no diagnosis, no examination, the treatment program is wrong. These are sold at a very high price to people who think, ’I can’t go to physical therapy all the time,’ and who are somewhat economically viable.” was spoke.
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40 PERCENT DECLINE IN TURKEY MEDICAL TOURISM
Turkey Medicals, which draws attention to the fact that Turkey is one of the leading countries in health tourism, has recently experienced a decline, shared the information “Health tourism declined by 40 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year”.
However, stating that there are many reasons for this, Turkey Medicals listed these reasons as ‘the fear created by the expected big Istanbul earthquake’, ‘excessively high prices’, ‘Istanbul’s bad reputation taxis spread around the world’, ‘recently increasing racist rhetoric’.
”Unfortunately, our competitors in general tourism use these weaknesses of ours very well,“ was said, ”They are all actually solvable problems when examined and worked on well,” said.
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DEMAND FOR TURKEY FROM POOR AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES
Turkey, which is one of the important tourism destinations in the world, had become the shining star of health tourism, especially during the epidemic period.
Turkey Medicals says that as in general tourism, the demand of poor and middle-income countries is higher in health tourism.
”However, we should target markets like Europe, which are both economically strong and 50 percent of which are over the age of 65,” Turkey Medicals said, continuing as follows:
“Unfortunately, European Union health and care insurance does not pay for medical procedures performed in Turkey except in case of emergency.
However, health services in the EU are both very expensive and there are long waiting times. The EU’s sick and elderly can be cared for through special contacts at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs level. This is a win-win relationship, both sides have superior interests.”
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WHAT SHOULD THE FOREIGNER CITIZEN DO?
Underlining that health managers should evaluate incoming notifications well in this regard, the Turkey Medicals Co-ordinator, if it is aimed at what a citizen can do, said:
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“Citizens‘ Are you a hospital, a medical center, an outpatient clinic, a physical therapy institution?, Can we see your license?’ international patient should ask.
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By asking the physical therapy and rehabilitation specialist physician, one should say, ’I want to see his diploma’.
If they are going to get in touch on social media, ‘Can you send your physical therapy laboratory license?’ one should say. If they do not have such a license, they should complain to the provincial or Istanbul district health directorate, MESTER and CIMER.”
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Turkey Medicals on a final note said “Do not endanger your health on heavily discounts or cheap priced holiday treatment packages in Turkey”.
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Turkey's world-renowned organ transplant specialist. Dr. Demirbaş has 104 international publications and 102 national publications.
Physician's Resume:
Born on August 7, 1963 in Çorum, Prof. Dr. Alper Demirbaş has been continuing his work as the President of MedicalPark Antalya Hospital Organ Transplantation Center since 2008.
Prof. who performed the first tissue incompatible kidney transplant in Turkey, the first blood type incompatible kidney transplant, the first kidney-pancreas transplant program and the first cadaveric donor and live donor liver transplant in Antalya. Dr. As of August 2016, Alper Demirbaş has performed 4900 kidney transplants, 500 liver transplants and 95 pancreas transplants.
In addition to being the chairman of 6 national congresses, he has also been an invited speaker at 12 international and 65 national scientific congresses. Dr. Alper Demirbaş was married and the father of 1 girl and 1 boy.
Awards:
Eczacibasi Medical Award of 2002, Akdeniz University Service Award of 2005, Izder Medical Man of the Year Award of 2006, BÖHAK Medical Man of the Year Award of 2007, Sabah Mediterranean Newspaper Scientist of the Year Award of 2007, ANTIKAD Scientist of the Year Award of 2009, Social Ethics Association Award of 2010, Işık University Medical Man of the Year Award of 2015, VTV Antalya's Brand Value Award of 2015.
Certificates:
Doctor of Medicine Degree Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine Ankara, General Surgeon Ministry of Health Turkey EKFMG (0-477-343-8), University of Miami School of Medicine Member of Multiple Organ Transplant, ASTS Multiorgan Transplant Scholarship. Lecturer at Kyoto University. Lecturer at University of Essen, Research assistant at the University of Cambridge .
Professional Members:
American Society of Transplant Surgeons, American Transplantation Society Nominated, Middle East and Southern Africa Council Transplantation Society 2007, International Liver Transplantation Association, Turkish Transplantation Association, Turkish Society of Surgery, Turkish Hepatobiliary Surgery Association.
Disclaimer:
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