Beauty and Skin Care Centers in Palestine

·       Effectiveness of supervisory procedures

-        Regulating the operation of beauty and skin care centers that use medical devices and medicines, in accordance with the applicable regulations, is an important matter that directly affects the citizen's health.
I reviewed the content of a report by the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB), included in its annual report for 2018, regarding the audit of supervisory procedures over these centers, and the verification of whether the Ministry of Health and its directorates performed their role regarding planning, organization, follow-up and supervision of beauty and skin care centers, by carrying out effective oversight of those centers and ensuring their compliance with licensing conditions, in a way that preserves the safety of citizens who visit those centers.

-        The number of skin care centers as reported in the report was 54 skin care centers; only 3 of these centers were licensed out of the 54 centers in 2017.. at a rate of only 6%.!!, knowing that the number of centers according to media reports approached 150 centers by the end of 2015...!!
Through the audit it conducted on the Ministry of Health and its directorates, the Bureau reached the following observations:

-        Weakness in the Ministry of Health’s procedures to regulate the mechanism of work in skin care centers to ensure that they practice their activities according to proper standards.

-        It also became apparent that the Ministry of Health did not set detailed procedures and instructions to clarify the difference between it and dermatology clinics and beauty centers.

-        There is no syndicate or association to follow up and regulate their work due to the lack of clarity in the Ministry of Health’s procedures for organizing the work of those centers, according to these centers’ statements.

-        There is unqualified staff inspecting beauty and skin care centers.. where the audit of the field inspection teams showed that there are no persons holding an academic qualification specific to dermatology or to devices that operate with radiation, and because some devices resemble each other, committee members cannot distinguish between devices that emit radiation at allowable levels to be operated only by a dermatologist, because there is no staff specialized in radiating devices.!

-        Failure of the Ministry of Health to provide adequate awareness and communication with citizens to educate them about the necessity of ensuring that skin care centers obtain a license from the Ministry of Health.

-        Weakness of the inspection procedures carried out by the Ministry of Health.. which led to the continued operation of these centers without a reasonable guarantee for the safety of citizens, in addition to the fact that the supervision of many directorates over skin centers is insufficient.. and inspectors’ work focuses on two matters:

1-   Environmental inspection of the center: in terms of location, area and the safety conditions available in any health center.

2-   And the inspection carried out by the Ministry’s specialized inspectors on the presence of medicines and creams and their expiration dates, permitted and prohibited laser devices, the fitness of devices and cosmetic and therapeutic contact lenses... and ensuring the presence or absence of a dermatologist or a cosmetic surgeon.. noting that 94% of these centers are unlicensed due to the absence of a doctor...!!

-        The Bureau’s report pointed to the absence of follow-up visits to ensure that centers correct the recorded violations... and the report added that there is a random spread of unlicensed skin care centers, trading in medicines, materials and medical devices illegally..

-        The absence of a specific licensing system for these centers, and the lack of an accurate database of the number and locations of skin care centers, led to difficulty following up these centers and to the absence of accountability by the Ministry of Health for centers in which violations were recorded...

-        These centers are variably affiliated to the Ministry of Health, or to the Physicians’ Syndicate represented by the Dermatology Association, or dermatology clinics, or to the Syndicate of Barbers and Beauty Salons!!

-        The Palestinian Ministry of Health responded to the Bureau’s report by addressing all directorates to comply with the Bureau’s recommendations...!!

-        We hope there will be follow-up... to ensure compliance with the instructions and the correction of conditions in skin care centers,.. in addition to making licensing conditional primarily on the presence of a dermatology or cosmetic specialist doctor in any center. This is primarily to ensure that the health and safety of the bodies of center visitors are not harmed, and in addition to employing numbers of specialist doctors and technicians in these centers..!

-        The existence of the private sector is necessary and fundamental for business development, economic growth, and increasing the gross local income and therefore the prosperity of the country, provided it is harmonized and compatible with a system of laws, legislation and regulations governing businesses, professions and individuals in society.. Therefore, it is incumbent on the relevant directorates, ministries and centers of responsibility in the state to perform their tasks and functions properly without any negligence or slack!!... We thank the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) and all its officials and work teams for their diligent and professional work, who formed a vigilant eye on the health and safety of the community, its citizens and institutions... public and private sectors... and between them... and we hope that the SAACB’s recommendations will rise from mere recommendations to the level of competent powers and binding instructions, especially in light of the absence of oversight bodies that were once considered vigilant over the community and have become inoperative !!