Regulations and Guidelines on Aesthetic Medicine

21 Apr 2008

Question No:  571  

Question

Name of the Person: Mdm Halimah Yacob

To ask the Minister for Health (a) when will the regulations and guidelines on aesthetic medicine be issued; (b) what will the regulations and guidelines cover; and (c) in the interim, whether doctors are allowed to continue with such procedures and how will the safety of patients be protected.

Reply

Reply From MOH

1. There is a wide range of practices which constitute the so-called “aesthetic medicine”. They range from high-risk procedures like liposuction to relatively low-risk practices like chemical skin peeling.  Our major concern is over high-risk procedures which can lead to severe complications including death, if they are carried out by operators without proper training or in ill-equipped clinics.  We will regulate these high-risk procedures, in the interest of protecting patient safety.  We are studying the regulatory regimes in other countries and our regulatory measures will cover the training required, the practice standards, the premises where they can perform the procedure, and the quality assurance framework that must be in place.

2 We target to complete the draft regulations for public consultation within a month. 

3 As for the low-risk procedures, the international practice is to let the professional bodies regulate them.  At our request, the Academy of Medicine and the College of Family Physicians are working together to draw up guidelines to govern the practice of such procedures.  Their guidelines will similarly cover training requirements, practice standards etc.  Achieving consensus is likely to take longer and they expect a few months to complete their work. 

4. With or without explicit regulations, doctors have to comply with the Singapore Medical Council’s Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines.  If they fail to do so and their patients should complain to the Singapore Medical Council, they will have to justify their action to their peers.  Our doctors are largely ethical and competent.  We should strive to preserve this high clinical and ethical standard among our doctors.