UpdateBeauticians in Hong Kong to be banned from performing some cosmetic treatments
Proposed guidelines follow death of woman after blood transfusion therapy and will allow only doctors to perform some procedures
Beauticians will soon be banned from performing a list of cosmetic treatment classified as high-risk medical procedures, the health minister has said.
In the government’s proposal for a new guideline under the Medical Registration Ordinance, only doctors would be allowed to perform such procedures, including injecting Botox and dermal fillers and conducting chemical peels, Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man announced on Friday.
Beauticians found doing so would be violating the ordinance.
It is difficult to give a clear definition on whether a cosmetic treatment is a medical procedure ... But this guideline gives both the prosecutor and the public a clearer idea.
The move comes more than a year after the DR beauty centre scandal, in which a woman died and three fell seriously ill after receiving blood transfusion therapy at a salon chain.
Ko believed the proposed guideline would be sufficient to prosecute similar cases in future.
“It is difficult to give a clear definition on whether a cosmetic treatment is a medical procedure [because] there is no comprehensive list [to refer to],” he said, after a meeting with a steering committee that was reviewing the regulation of private health-care facilities.
“But this guideline should be helpful for prosecution in future as it gives both the prosecutor and the public a clearer idea.”
The health minister said the committee had accepted a working group’s suggestion to define different types of beauty treatment. The proposed guidelines would take effect in a few months, after they were submitted and accepted by a Legislative Council panel, he said.