Rules for those who perform aesthetic ops

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Guidelines are being finalised to provide a clearer definition on the jobs that can be carried out by beauticians, specialists and general practitioners who perform aesthetic surgeries, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said the ministry's guidelines, which would be ready by the first quarter of the year, would specify what beauticians, general practitioners and specialists, including dermatologists and plastic surgeons, were allowed to carry out on their clients.
A committee, made up of dermatologists, plastic surgeons, general practitioners and ministry officials, was also finalising the syllabus of a short course that general practitioners were required to attend should they intend to carry out aesthetic surgeries in their clinics.
“This will be a special skills course that is different from normal medical courses. It will deal with issues related to skin and beauty,” he told reporters after the opening ceremony of Beauty Professional 2012 here yesterday.
Liow said there was a growing demand for aesthetic surgeries among Malaysians, thus the course would better prepare general practitioners who offered such services.
“It will also help the ministry to not just regulate but also monitor practitioners who offer such services,” he said.
Liow also urged the cosmetics industry to set up a panel to self-regulate its products and practitioners to ensure that the services they provided were safe and of quality.
“The industry must ensure that the marketing and advertising of cosmetics are conducted in an ethical manner that promotes proper use of its products,” he said.
“It certainly must not mislead or deceive the consumers through fantastic or optimistic claims.”
He said it was important to show the public that the industry was voluntarily doing the right thing to ensure the safety of its products as this would help the industry gain public trust and brand loyalty.

On the number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases in Sarawak, Liow said there was an accumulated number of 1,231 cases since January, which is an increase of 936 cases compared with 295 cases during the same period last year.
“The situation in the state is stable. Most of the patients showed mild symptoms of the disease,” he said.
Liow added that among the cases, 80 of them were clustered cases that happened in families, nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools.
He said Kuching still recorded the highest number of cases at 449, followed by Bintulu (202), Samarahan (119) and Betong (107).
“Of all the samples that we have taken so far, 87% of them are EV71 positive while the rest are Coxsackie A16 positive,” he said.