KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) today said that the issue of beauty centres administering invasive medical procedures must be taken seriously and enforcement against these centres must be increased.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin clarified that while aesthetic clinics fall under the purview of MoH, beauty centres fall under the purview of the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP).
However, he said that MoH and KPDNHEP are always in talks with each other over the matter as the Health Ministry supports the growth of the beauty sector in the country.
“We already have a guideline for the aesthetics industry. But, MoH's concerns are with beauty centres that do not fall under us, but under KPDNHEP.
“However, MoH and KPDNHEP always have discussions to ensure procedures that are done at these beauty centres are not medical procedures, invasive procedures that penetrate the epidermis or skin.
“Observations and enforcement on this must be taken seriously because we have received many complaints from customers about procedures done on them by unscrupulous centres,” he told reporters after officiating the Asia Dermatology and Aesthetics Medicine Summit 2022 (ADAMS) Convention at Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur.
He said that MoH's priority is to ensure the safety of the customers at the beauty centres, and ensure that they do not administer any medical procedures or use equipment that they are not certified to use.
Khairy in his opening speech at the summit revealed that MoH has received 103 complaints against aesthetic service providers between January and August, this year.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said reports involved adverse outcomes including disfigurements and even death, arising from aesthetic procedures performed by incompetent medical and non-medical practitioners.
He said the government has initiated steps to better regulate the lucrative but poorly monitored beauty industry, which has indirectly caused the number of fake medical practitioners to increase.
