Many cosmetic service facilities in Da Nang operate illegally.

Ms. Tran Thanh Thuy, Deputy Director in charge of the Da Nang Department of Health, said that Da Nang has many unlicensed cosmetic service businesses operating illegally, affecting people's health.

In October 2023, Da Nang discovered another "underground" beauty salon using people without qualifications or practice certificates to perform cosmetic surgery on customers.

Currently, the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health have licensed 30 facilities operating in the field of aesthetic medicine in Da Nang, including 11 hospitals, 1 general clinic and 18 aesthetic clinics. In addition, there are 47 medical examination and treatment facilities in the field of dermatology.

Ms. Tran Thanh Thuy said that the number of cosmetic services that are not subject to licensing is also large, this is a form of cosmetic service facility that operates under conditions. Previously, according to the old 2009 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment as well as Decrees 109 and 155, cosmetic service facilities were one of the forms of medical services with conditions, not requiring a license to operate (like medical examination and treatment facilities) but had to make a self-declaration of eligibility to operate in the field. When operating, facilities must submit a self-declaration form to the Department of Health and the unit will assess and answer "sufficient or not sufficient" conditions for self-declaration of operation. By the end of 2023, there were 129 facilities declaring eligibility to provide cosmetic services in Da Nang City.

However, from January 1, 2024, the new Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (No. 15) takes effect, among the 16 forms of medical examination and treatment, the form of cosmetic service facility is no longer available. All facilities providing cosmetic services related to the techniques listed in Clause 12, Article 40 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP dated December 30, 2023 of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment such as using drugs, substances, and equipment to intervene in the human body to change color, shape, weight, overcome defects, regenerate cells, body functions, and perform tattooing and embroidery on the skin, but using injectable anesthetics... must organize their activities in the form of medical examination and treatment facilities. This means that they must be licensed to operate by the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health.

“Currently, all cosmetic service establishments are not required to make a declaration under the old law, and are not allowed to perform these techniques. Because of the change in regulations, many establishments have been operating illegally and without a license. This poses a great risk to the health of people using the services,” said Ms. Tran Thanh Thuy.

Ms. Tran Thanh Thuy, Deputy Director in charge of Da Nang Department of Health shared information.

According to the Deputy Director in charge of the Da Nang Department of Health, in response to the increasing demand for health care and beauty of the people, the health sector has also reported to the Da Nang People's Committee and coordinated with departments and localities to strengthen state management of cosmetic service establishments. In recent years, the Department has coordinated to organize training for hospitals, localities, and business establishments on the law on cosmetic practice in the area; publicly announced the list of medical examination and treatment establishments and establishments qualified to provide cosmetic services on the unit's information page.

In fact, in 2023, the authorities inspected 50 establishments, of which 40 were operating, and 22 showed signs of violating regulations. This shows that the number of operating establishments is very large, and the number of violations is not small.

“On the part of state management agencies, functional sectors are resolutely inspecting and checking. But the most important thing is still people's awareness. We recommend that people must have full information and knowledge about this field to access safe cosmetic services,” Ms. Tran Thanh Thuy advised.

XUAN QUYNH

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