PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) welcomes the government's decision to engage with stakeholders and look into stricter regulation of the beauty and aesthetics industry.
Its president Dr Koh Kar Chai said beauticians and beauty centres do have a place in the business of aesthetics but there was a line to define what a beautician was allowed to do, and surgical procedures were not one of them.
However, there have been cases where aesthetic surgical procedures were done by individuals claiming to be professionals at beauty centres or sometimes even in hotel rooms.
Dr Koh urged the authorities to come down hard on establishments that are marring the face of the beauty industry.
“In Malaysia, medical doctors who provide aesthetic services need to obtain extra credentialing to do so.
“Doctors who do plastic surgery need to undergo specialist post-graduate training in order to be a registered plastic surgeon and similarly, beauticians too have to train hard to be certified professionals.
“We urge the authorities to come down hard on the establishments which are marring the face of the beauty industry,” he said.
Dr Koh said the dental aesthetic industry has also been in the news over the discovery that there are individuals and establishments offering training in some dental procedures, with many dealing with the application of braces to correct their dental alignment.
“One of the reasons many, especially the young, resort to such activities is the high cost of orthodontic correction which can run into thousands of ringgit.
“Though these unqualified individuals who offer dental correction procedures do not come across as dangerous individuals, they can nonetheless do harm to their clientele.
“We are pleased that the government is now taking steps to properly regulate the industry and is looking into the guidelines needed which outline the types of services allowed in a beauty establishment,” 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.
Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Rosol Wahid told The Star that his ministry and the Health Ministry were engaging with stakeholders to discuss the plan.
Rosol said that at the moment, both ministries were seeking a middle ground as to what procedures could and could not be offered by beauticians.
