[A-List] Lebanon: another surgical strike

["Michael Keaney" <michael011@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Loans for plastic surgery answer Lebanon's yearning for fresh start
By Ferry Biedermann in Beirut
Financial Times: May 8 2007

Roula, a 26-year-old secretary living in Beirut, is a casualty of the
booming interest in cosmetic surgery in Lebanon. She did not really have
the money for it last year but, because all her girlfriends were
undergoing "improvements to look beautiful", she decided to have facial
injections on the cheap in neighbouring Syria. The result: a serious
infection and a "hole" in her face.

Luckily for Roula, who now needs reconstructive surgery, Lebanon's First
National Bank rolled out a new product last month which, it claims, is
unique in the Middle East and perhaps the world: a loan for plastic
surgery.

The bank also launched an aggressive advertising campaign, putting up
the flawless features of a blonde model on 1,000 hoardings across the
country. The loan had been planned for launch last summer but had to be
delayed because of the outbreak of Israel's war against the Hizbollah
movement in Lebanon.

The loan and advertising campaign are now providing a welcome diversion
for the Lebanese from domestic political problems as the pro-Syrian
Hizbollah vies for power with the pro-western government of Fouad
Siniora.

For some, however, the phenomenon points to worrisome trends in Lebanese
society. "People feel great uncertainty about the future," said Liliane
Ghazale, a Beirut psychologist and anthropologist. "They feel they are
not in control of their own fate. There is an exaggerated emphasis on
external appearance because that is one area in which people can assert
control."

George Nasr, the head of the FNB's marketing department and the man
behind the loan, estimates that the number of cosmetic procedures has
doubled in Lebanon since 2000.

There are no hard figures but, in its April issue, Lebanon's Commerce du
Levant monthly journal estimated that the industry is now worth between
$25m and $30m (?18m-?22m, £12.5m-£15m), involving about 1,000 operations
a year. Most of that is for purely "aesthetic" procedures commonly
carried out on noses, lips and breasts. Between 25 and 30 per cent of
clients are thought to come from abroad.

The latest trend is a steady growth in the number of men requesting
cosmetic surgery - currently comprising 20 per cent of all patients.

"We had research done and concluded that there was real demand," said Mr
Nasr. "There has been a tremendous response."

The bank's product is aimed at the less well-off, as the wealthy can pay
directly for surgery. The minimum salary required is $600 a month, which
is about average for the country, and the lender will not need to put up
a guarantee or have a guarantor for sums up to $3,000. The maximum sum
that can be borrowed is $5,000.

Roula's operation will cost her $3,000 and she says that if her loan is
approved, she will repay it over two years at the rate of about $175 a
month - a hefty chunk of her $700 salary. "But I don't have another
choice," she said.

Mr Nasr says clients may be more likely to turn to a bank than to family
or friends to get the money for plastic surgery. "People are a bit
embarrassed. It is an intimate thing." He explains that the bank has
structured the loan the way it has - without the need for a guarantee
and at 6 per cent interest - because the clients are likely "to be very
committed" and may want to use the product again. People get "addicted"
to cosmetic surgery, he explains. If they have one thing done, they may
go for something else.

Ms Ghazale, the psychologist, agrees, but does not see that as a
positive aspect. "This may open a Pandora's box," she said, pointing out
that the loan was targeted at often vulnerable women.

Roula is a case in point. She had a nose job five years ago but decided
after last year's war that she was in need of a morale-booster.

At a hospital in the down-market Qantara district of Beirut, Dr Ziad
Sleiman, a member of Lebanon's Society of Plastic Surgeons, concedes
that some doctors performing cosmetic procedures may be less scrupulous
than others. But he is not perturbed by the loan and is taking part in a
Lebanese television show about plastic surgery, called Beauty Clinic.

"It is good to have more work, and the loan makes the surgery available
to people who previously could not afford it," he said.


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