On August 22, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health held a conference on Strengthening solutions to ensure patient safety in cosmetic surgery (PTTM) with more than 65 online locations.
78% of complaints are related to aesthetics
At the conference, Dr. Nguyen Thi Phan Thuy, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital, said that each year, this facility receives 200-500 cases of medical incidents in internal cosmetic surgery. Of these, 69% are related to injection procedures, 16% are related to laser and light procedures, 10% are due to chemical cosmetic procedures... Most of the complications are treated and recovered, but there are also cases of blindness due to filler injections that cannot be cured. Statistics from the Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital also show that about 77% of complications occur at unlicensed spas and cosmetic facilities, 13% are due to self-performed procedures at home... Complications are very likely to occur when the process is not sterile, and the person performing the procedure is not a cosmetic doctor...
According to Dr. Ho Van Han, Chief Inspector of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the specialized inspection of violations in the field of aesthetics faces many challenges, especially the situation of "encroachment" into the medical field by beauty establishments. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has 37 cosmetic hospitals, 31 cosmetic plastic surgery departments in hospitals, 290 cosmetic clinics, 414 dermatology clinics, but there are nearly 4,900 non-medical cosmetic service establishments (skin care, spas, etc.). These beauty establishments are granted business certificates by districts, towns, and the Department of Planning and Investment.
Notably, about 78% of the complaints received by the Department of Health are related to cosmetic surgery in the context of increasing illegal cosmetic surgery, false advertising on social networks... In the first 8 months of the year, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health inspected 120 cosmetic surgery establishments, issued 136 administrative penalty decisions with a total fine of more than 7 billion VND. The root causes of unsafe cosmetic surgery are profit-seeking establishments, non-compliance with regulations, false advertising on social networks, the capacity of practitioners and management of practitioners, the problem of illegal training and vocational training... In addition, Vietnamese legal regulations still have gaps, are not suitable for reality, and sanctions and penalties are not strong enough.
6 solutions to rectify beauty services: Call on people to continue providing information to authorities; Units should increase rapid reporting when receiving cases of suspected cosmetic complications; Coordinate with the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City in managing training and vocational training; Coordinate with functional forces to inspect, handle, and provide quick information; Coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh City Police to handle key cases; Proactively review advertisements for inspection and handling, through a special task force.
Dr. Ho Van Han, Chief Inspector of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health
Hang a red warning sign that the facility is suspended.
With 87 cosmetic clinics and 352 beauty service establishments, District 10 has faced many complaints about cosmetic activities. According to Dr. Le Hong Tay, Head of the District 10 Health Department, in 2023, the locality received 68 complaints via the Online Health Application; inspected and suspended the operation of 24 cosmetic establishments, and imposed a fine of 1.7 billion VND. In the first 6 months of the year, District 10 decided to suspend 2 establishments.
From 2023 to present, District 10 has had 10 medical incidents in the field of aesthetics, including deaths. Violations in the field of aesthetics are very complicated. Faced with the above situation, the People's Committee of District 10 has issued a 45-day peak plan to inspect and handle unlicensed facilities in the field of aesthetics. During the inspection process, it was noted that out of the initial 330 facilities, only 170 are still operating, the rest have closed or moved elsewhere. The rate of violating facilities accounts for 24.7% with violations of unlicensed medical examination and treatment activities, no practice license, advertising in violation of regulations, etc. To warn people, the People's Committee of District 10 has piloted a model of posting red violation signs in front of cosmetic facilities that are being suspended and closely monitored. This model has received consensus from local people and public opinion.
According to Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Nguyen Anh Dung, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, there are many gaps that need to be filled to increase patient safety. In particular, practitioners must have appropriate practice licenses, operate within the scope of their capacity and expertise, and absolutely not exceed their expertise and endanger patients. Comply with reporting medical incidents, service providers and surgeons must be responsible for ensuring safety before surgery, etc. In addition, Associate Professor Nguyen Anh Dung suggested strictly complying with regulations on record keeping, advertising, and handling of violations, etc.
“For cosmetic establishments that repeatedly violate the law, intentionally change their names and operating models, and challenge the law, we recommend that the authorities take strict and deterrent measures,” Associate Professor Nguyen Anh Dung suggested.
Special attention to anesthesia and resuscitation
According to Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Thi Thanh, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Anesthesia and Resuscitation, to ensure patient safety in cosmetic surgery, it is necessary to build a safety culture in accordance with the issued regulations; strengthen anesthesia and resuscitation training activities; provide specialized training in anesthesia and resuscitation for cosmetic surgery. Complicated cosmetic surgeries, elderly patients and patients with underlying diseases need to be performed at large hospitals.
Sharing the same view, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Van, Permanent Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, recommends that anesthesiologists must have a practicing certificate, be highly skilled, have a lot of experience, and be capable of handling complications. To ensure patient safety, cosmetic surgery should only be performed when the professional council and anesthesiologist permit it.
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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/spa-cham-soc-da-lan-san-y-te-thach-thuc-co-quan-chuc-nang-post755226.html
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