MOH Clarifies Position on Aesthetic Treatment

24 Mar 2008

Recent reports by some local media on aesthetic treatment have not correctly reflected the Ministry of Health’s position on this subject.

Aesthetic treatment covers a wide range of activities, ranging from the dubious to the scientifically-proven, and from low to high-risk.  The vanity business has been around for ages, in response to human aspiration for a quick fix to stay young and trim.  While this is often naive, there is no limit to such a demand.  Indeed as income rises, there will be more such demand. 

Regulating this business is particularly challenging as often scientific evidence is missing or inconclusive.  A hard regulatory approach must mean the prohibition of many procedures but this is not practical.  And this is not what MOH is advocating. 

What is practical and indeed the global practice is to focus on safety and leave the rest of the aesthetic business to be largely self-regulated or regulated by the profession.  In other words, consumers go in with their eyes open, knowing that there will be disappointment and occasionally even accidents, not to mention the loss of money.  Operators in turn are expected to practice with their customers' interest in mind and not allow greed to over-rule ethical considerations.  Where the operators are medical doctors, there is an additional ethical duty as defined by the Singapore Medical Council's Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines.

What MOH will focus on is patient safety, in particular for highly invasive procedures. For example, lipo-suction has been known to cause severe complications including death.  Hence it should be carried out only by trained doctors in well-equipped and well-staffed facilities.  To stress this point, we raised this issue in Parliament last month.  Doctors who flout safety guidelines are putting their patients and their reputation at risk.  Draft regulations are being formulated.  Meanwhile, patients and doctors have been reminded to exercise caution.

As for the other aesthetic procedures, the Academy of Medicine and the College of Family Physicians are jointly formulating guidelines which will govern the ethical practice of such procedures.  They will consult widely and learn from other countries with similar guidelines.  MOH supports such a responsible way of self-regulation by the profession.  We will expect our doctors to abide by such ethical guidelines.  Indeed, the vast majority of them do.  Recent media reports have unfairly presented our GPs, who toil day and night to bring ethical medicine to their patients.  Our primary healthcare services rank among the best in the world, easily accessible and affordable to the masses.  A few unethical doctors should not be allowed to taint the good reputation of our medical community.

The media reports have however served a useful purpose of reminding Singaporeans that there is no short cut to staying youthful and that ageing is a natural irreversible process.  There are no quick fixes.  Wasting money is one thing, but suffering a severe complication will be senseless.  MOH will regulate high-risk procedures such as liposuction to protect human lives.  Beyond that, the Academy of Medicine and the College of Family Physicians will formulate ethical guidelines for compliance by doctors.  Meanwhile, the public should be vigilant of any operator who offers aesthetic services that appear to be new or unheard of.  When offered such services, the public should seek a second opinion from their regular Family Physician whom they trust.  

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

23 MARCH 2008