Closing down of centres starts in 2 weeks
MALACCA: The Health Ministry will launch a nationwide operation in two weeks to clamp down on those providing ozone beauty treatments to ensure a total ban of the services by July 1.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, said: “We have agencies authorised to carry out enforcement. We know who is doing it and we have the evidence to take action against the premises (operators) that offer such treatment,” he said at the 8th Health Clinic Advisory Panel National Convention here yesterday.
Dr Subramaniam said the blanket ban on ozone treatment had triggered a mixed reaction.
“Such therapy has been around for more than 10 years, but it is only now beginning to mushroom. Some are done in clinics and others by non-medical practitioners in spas.
“There have been deaths (linked to ozone therapy). The ministry is concerned as such cases are not reported to us.”
Dr Subramaniam said the ministry did not have a record of businesses offering ozone therapy as they were not registered, but they included beauty parlours, spas and clinics.
He said he would not consider extending the deadline of the ban.
On another matter, he said the Health Ministry had no jurisdiction to verify the authenticity of MyKad issued to foreign workers.
“We do not have the facilities to check the authenticity of the MyKad, but if the issue gets worse, we will speak with the National Registration Department.
“Our stand is to offer treatment to a sick person, regardless of who he is,” he said.
Meanwhile, several ozone therapy centres in the Klang Valley had stopped operating a day after the Health Ministry announced the blanket ban.
Yesterday, checks by the New Straits Times found one centre in Bandar Puchong closed without notice. Another centre that advertised its premises online in Jalan PJS 11/28, Bandar Sunway, did not exist.
Phone calls were also made to the centres. One in Ara Damansara asked to call back next week to set an appointment while others went unanswered.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Dr Subramaniam had said that if such centres did not shut down by July 1, their operators would be taken to court.
The directive came a few months after NST reported about unregulated beauty parlours offering ozone therapy, which the operators said offered health benefits.
The NST Special Probes team, working together with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency had exposed the hiring of untrained individuals to hook the machines onto customers.
It had also found medical personnel and others willing to inject unknown “beauty” concoctions into customers for a fee.