To check the proliferation of quacks and unsafe practices in the beauty industry, the President of the Nigerian Association of Dermatologists, Prof. Dasetima Altraide, has emphasised the need for the enactment and enforcement of cosmetic laws and regulations. He decried the surge in the number of unlicensed practitioners in the country, stating that it had led to an increase in several cases of skin complications and botched procedures.
The don asserted that if the issue persisted, many Nigerians were at risk of “complications from the use of bleaching creams and soaps such as stretch marks, fungal infections, bacterial infections, the transmission of Human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis viruses, botched procedures, burns, and scars.” The absence of enforcement of cosmetic laws and regulations, the dermatologist said, has also accommodated the presence of unlicensed foreigners, who train unsuspecting Nigerians, charge them in dollars and issue them with certificates. Altraide, in an exclusive interview with PUNCH Healthwise , said, “Cosmetic laws and regulations should be put in place and enforced.
There is an astronomical rise in spas, beauty parlours, skin care therapists and aestheticians who are inexperienced and licensed. “We also see some foreigners come into the country without a license, train people, charge high fees in USD and issue certificates but you as a Nigerian cannot do that in their country. “They open skin clinics and offer the wrong treatme.