Weight loss surgery tourism needs urgent regulation, say UK experts

A booming trade in medical tourism for weight loss surgery is placing patients at risk and needs urgent regulation, experts have warned.

Despite the growing popularity of injections such as Mounjaro to treat obesity, the number of patients travelling to other countries for surgery is increasing, the latest analysis suggests.

And, with the wider medical tourism industry set to be worth about £300bn annually, with anticipated year-on-year growth of 25%, international regulation is urgently needed, according to a commentary in the journal BMJ Global Health.

“We are seeing this ongoing increase, linked to the globalisation of healthcare and long wait lists,” said Dr Jessica McGirr of the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin and Imperial College London, adding that many are being marketed bariatric surgery through “before and after” images on TikTok and Instagram.

“Incorrectly, surgery is often marketed from an aesthetic point of view,” McGirr said. “This is complex surgery for treatment of a chronic disease with potentially significant health complications.”

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Source: The Guardian, 15 July 2025