Why Brazil has become a cosmetic surgery hub?

For decades Brazil has been considered a thriving centre for cosmetic surgery, and it is now at the heart of a growing wave of surgery tourism, with foreigners jetting in for a few days on the cutting board and a week's recuperation on the beach. After the United States, home to 5,000 registered cosmetic surgeons, Brazil comes in a close second, with around 4,000.

Plastic surgery long ago ceased to be taboo in Brazilian society. Celebrities talk openly in the media about their respective facelifts, wrinkle reductions and bum tucks, while several glossy magazines dedicated to the topic appear on newspaper stands across the country.

Exact figures are hard to come by, with doctors at the conference reluctant to talk about how much the Brazilian market is worth. Americans spent around $12.4bn on plastic surgery in 2005, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery; doctors here say Brazil is not far behind.

Cosmetic surgery has traditionally been seen as the reserve of Brazil's wealthy upper classes. That however is changing. The development of "minimal incision" and "less invasive" operations at walk-in clinics are starting to democratise access to cosmetic treatment, suggesting that private clinics will soon be found in some of the city's shanty towns.

The mentality of the Brazilian people is a very open kind of mentality compared with that of the Europeans. Brazilians have a much greater ease in seeking out Plastic surgery. It is a tropical country, where people enjoy exposing their bodies. This helps stimulate people to have surgery.

Brazil's medical legislation has also paid a considerable part, he says. Silicone breast implants, outlawed in the US for 10 years, have been part of Brazilian life since 1993. This has, in effect, given Brazilian surgeons a 10-year headstart.

The tendency of Brazilians is the body as they show off their bodies on the beach: they mainly opt for liposuction or work on the abdomen. This is why Brazilian surgeons remain among the world's best when it comes to abdomen or buttocks. The operating techniques come predominantly from Brazil.

Women from the US, Europe and other rich countries where there is high medical costs are flocking to have their Plastic Surgery in Brazil, like a tummy tuck, a liposuction or breast work, done for less in places like Brazil.

Plastic surgeons in Brazil report a 20% increase in foreign patients last year over 2005. The popular cable television program Entertainment Tonight has followed women on the so-called “beauty and the beach” trail to Brazil.

Price is the biggest incentive for prospective foreign patients. Depending partly on the often fluctuating exchange rate, total expenditures in Brazil usually run from one-third to one-half of what the same procedure would cost in the United States, say insiders.

Brazil stands out from cut-throat competition of Third World crowd because it can keep a straight face as it offers First World quality at a reasonably lower rate. Over 600,000 aesthetic operations were performed in 2006. Brazil has been a recognized international leader in the area of plastic surgery for decades.

Full-service operators try to eliminate some of the worry by helping prospective patients perform due diligence on physicians and hospitals, an often difficult task given language barriers and an unfamiliar bureaucracy.