Many cosmetic service businesses are dishonest and make mistakes.

Lost money, got sick

At the age of 51, Mr. NVT (Hung Dung ward, Vinh city) saw his hair falling out more and more. Worried that hair loss would affect his appearance.aestheticsSo he went to a beauty salon for treatment. Believing in the advertisement, Mr. T bought a treatment package of "super technology to stimulate the growth of 3,500 - 4,500 hairs, hair follicles develop 10 times; safe, painless, no need for recovery" worth tens of millions of dong from a beauty salon in Vinh city.

After a period of treatment, Mr. NVT's hair loss condition still did not improve and tended to worsen. Mr. T said: He asked the beauty salon to refund the money as promised. However, the salon used the excuse that his hair loss was due to illness, that he needed to continue treatment, that he had to buy an additional service package using hair nutrition medicine... and did not agree to refund. He himself was very upset because he had lost money unjustly.

Similar to Mr. NVT, Ms. VTT (33 years old, in Que Phong district) also listened to the advertisement and went to a beauty salon on Nguyen Van Cu street, Vinh city to treat facial melasma. With a service package worth over 28 million VND, this facility promises that the melasma will completely end after 10 treatments using modern technology.

Ms. VTT indignantly said: “Every 1-2 weeks, I go to the facility for treatment once according to the appointment. Each treatment lasts about 30 minutes, sometimes with radiation, sometimes with injections. After 10 treatments, the melasma on my face did not decrease but increased. When I asked for a refund as promised, the facility explained that my melasma was caused by many reasons such as hormonal disorders, the effects of sunlight, and the use of inappropriate cosmetics... The facility asked me to continue treatment until I was cured and did not charge me any more money. I myself do not have much time, money, or health to travel, so I agreed to stop the treatment and lost the money I paid.”

If Mr. NVT and Ms. VTT only lost money, there were cases of "disability". On April 28, 2023, Ms. HTT (35 years old, Vinh city) filed a complaint and requested an investigation and handling of the law violations of a beauty salon located on Tran Phu street (Vinh city) to the authorities. According to Ms. HTT's complaint: On April 19, 2023, she went to this beauty salon to get a beauty care service package worth 5,833 million VND. However, when she arrived, she was "persuaded" by the salon to buy a number of additional packages for a total of 130 million VND.

Despite the promise not to inject drugs or perform surgery, the staff of this facility still took blood from her arm and injected it into her chest. After returning from the facility, on April 20, Ms. T experienced chest tightness, difficulty breathing, allergic swelling of her face and chest, and fainted twice. Ms. T went to the hospital for a check-up. Through blood tests, Ms. HTT had many abnormal indicators and was diagnosed by the doctor with "Non-specific vascular lesions of the chest"... Ms. T asked the facility to refund her money and take responsibility for her health, but this request was not met by the facility.

According to information from the Nghe An Department of Health, in 2022-2023, the Department of Health Inspectorate suspended the operation of a cosmetic service facility (108 Cosmetic Business, located at 30 Le Nin Avenue, Vinh City) for 3 months; suspended the operation of a cosmetic service facility (Nguyen Thi Chi Business, located at 26T Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Vinh City) for 4.5 months.

Vinh City Health Department said that in the first 8 months of 2023, Vinh City People's Committee has fined 2 beauty service business establishments with the amount of 32.7 million VND, including: North America International Beauty Salon Business Household (No. 286, Nguyen Van Cu Street, Vinh City); MEDIC SKIN Beauty Salon Business Household Vinh Branch (address No. 238A, Tran Phu Street, Vinh City)... These 2 establishments committed the violation of providing beauty services to customers outside the scope of the granted business license.

At this time, only 40/120 beauty service businesses in Vinh city have notified the authorities of their operations.

Difficult to manage and handle violations

In fact, it is known that: Nghe An province has only 01 hospital and 03 cosmetic clinics licensed by the health sector. These are facilities that are allowed to provide cosmetic services using drugs, substances, and equipment to intervene in the human body (surgery, procedures, interventions with injections, injections, pumps, radiation, waves, burning or other invasive interventions) to change skin color, shape, weight, defects of body parts; tattooing, spraying, embroidering on the skin using injectable anesthetics.

All other establishments are cosmetic service businesses, including sauna, massage, sunbathing, non-surgical cosmetic services, haircuts, shampoos, manicures, and makeup. These establishments provide services that do not cause bleeding and do not perform surgery on the body. According to Decree 155/2018/ND-CP dated November 12, 2018, cosmetic service businesses are not under the management of the health sector.

If the conditions for establishing hospitals and cosmetic clinics are very strict, the conditions for establishing cosmetic service businesses are very easy. According to regulations, the facilities only need to establish a business household or enterprise and register the appropriate business code. Not belonging to the type that requires an operating license, the facilities only need to have a written notice of meeting the conditions for providing cosmetic services according to the prescribed form and send it to the district/city/town health department at least 10 days before operating.

Common violations of current cosmetic service businesses include: Using signs such as "beauty salon" or "beauty salon", causing confusion about clinics or hospitals specializing in cosmetic surgery; not posting service prices; advertising and performing services beyond the permitted scope; not being trained in preventing bloodborne and biological infections; not reporting activities to competent authorities; using drugs, chemicals, and machines of unknown origin...

These violations by cosmetic service establishments have posed a high risk to people's health. However, managing and handling violations of these establishments is very difficult. According to Ms. Ho Thi Hoa - Head of Vinh City Health Department: Registration is easy, so the number of establishments has grown a lot. There are many establishments operating illegally, without notification. Handling is very difficult because it is necessary to catch them red-handed to be punished, while the establishments often hide and deny their violations. They use the excuse that the owner of the establishment is away to delay the reception time or when the authorities appear, through the camera, these establishments have stopped performing the procedure. On the other hand, the management force in localities is very thin, each time an inspection and handling must be established, an interdisciplinary team, therefore, the number of establishments inspected and handled is not much.

Strong sanctions are needed.

In August 2023, the Provincial People's Council's Supervisory Delegation monitored the activities of non-public medical examination and treatment facilities in the province. Through supervision and working with districts, cities and towns, the Delegation noted the confusion of localities in the management and handling of violations of cosmetic service establishments. Although there have not been any cases of beauty salons allowing cleaners to perform cosmetic surgery on customers like in Da Nang, there have been cases of untrained people still performing invasive beauty services on customers' bodies.

With the current situation, pharmacist Tran Minh Tue - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Health stated: Currently, the regulations on the field of aesthetics such as spa, tattooing, beauty, do not have clear regulations on licensing conditions, there are no regulations that must be assessed and licensed by the Department of Health before operating like other clinics and medical services. These facilities, after being granted a business registration certificate by the District People's Committee, self-announce and operate. Sanctions for violations in the field of spa, tattooing, beauty, and glasses are still unclear and not strict, causing difficulties in application.

Nghe An Department of Health has proposed that the Ministry of Health include the field of aesthetics - spa, tattooing, beauty as a form of licensing. The Legal Department of the Ministry of Health amended and supplemented the Decree on administrative sanctions for violations in the health sector, in which it proposed to clearly state violations in spas, beauty services, tattooing, aesthetics, glasses, etc.

People need to be wise in choosing a cosmetic address that ensures effectiveness and safety for health according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health. These facilities must meet the following criteria: transparent operation, licensed by the Ministry of Health; possess a team of good doctors, experienced in the profession; a system of operating rooms that ensure sterile criteria; clear and reputable warranty policies; update modern cosmetic methods and trends... When detecting violations, it is necessary to report to the competent authorities and local authorities where the cosmetic service facility operates./.