A Market Research Of Obesity And Bariatric Surgery In Turkey And Tunisia
Authors: Kockaya G. , Karahan E. B. , Oztopcu S. , Oguzhan G. , Charaf A. M. 
Published: November 2020

This article aims to discuss four topics according to the recent scientific data a) to overview the frequency of obese and overweight individuals among Tunisia and Turkey populations; b) to examine health technology assessment of bariatric surgery (BS) report (HTA) in Tunisia and Turkey; c) to evaluate the cost and cost reimbursements by social health systems for bariatric surgery in Turkey and Tunisia; d) to examine the total number of bariatric surgical procedures and their costs in state and private health organizations in Tunisia and Turkey. The OECD (2011-2017) Turkey report was included for the data for the frequency of obese and over-weighted people among the general population Turkey, while the WHO report of «Diabetes Prevalence and Diabetes Risk Factors» of 2016 was included for Tunisia. Also supporting data on the overweight and obese population in Tunisia was provided from the news site named Middle East Monitor and the «Tunisian Health Examination Survey» conducted in 2016. Surgery cost and reimbursement of cost, analyses of bariatric surgery in Turkey published in 2014 was included as well. The data about the patient profile to whom bariatric surgery can be applied, the indications for bariatric surgery, and centers where it can be applied in Turkey are obtained from the Cost-Effectiveness of Obesity Surgery in Turkey and Economic Value Study (CEVOS-T) and Turkey Bariatric Surgery HTA Report. The Turkey Health Management Center website has been used for the total bariatric surgery performed. The authors analyzed the general status of bariatric operations in Turkey and Tunisia. The overweighted and obese individuals constitute 64.4% of Turkey’s population while this frequency is obtained as 62.8% of the Tunisian population. The rate of increase in obesity was obtained by 10.8% between 2014 to 2017 in Turkey. According to the results of CEVOS-T study the total economic burden attributable to an obesity rate of 1.16% of GDP in 2004, the proportion of the GDP in 2012 was seen as 1.73%. A total of 15,800 bariatric surgical procedures were performed in Turkey in 2018. The operational cost of a tube stomach surgery in the health unit of the Turkish Union of Public Hospitals (TKHK) was found to be 8930 TL. The cost of bariatric surgery in Tunisia including hospitalization is £ 3950. As the majority of the population is overweighted and obese in both Turkey and Tunisia, it can be interpreted as the occurrence of obesity-related health problems that can be increased. When the complications and advantages of bariatric surgery were examined it was decided that these two countries should give importance to bariatric surgery. Turkey’s interest in this subject is revealed with HTA and CEVOS-T report. Health economics analyses such as bariatric surgery HTA reports, number of bariatric surgery operations, the cost-effectiveness of BS in Tunisia could not be reached due to lack of statistics and resources. Turkey and Tunisia made with these investigations demonstrated a general situation in bariatric surgery.

Keywords: bariatric surgery, health technology, market of bariatric surgery, obesity, overweight population.