66% snub Gulf cosmetic surgery clinics

Tougher regulations on cosmetic surgery clinics in the Gulf region are urgently needed to encourage more customers through their doors, according to Arabian Business readers.

This week health inspectors closed several clinics and withdrew licences from some doctors as part of a move to impose tougher regulations on the industry.

But more than 65 percent of readers who took part in our online poll on Tuesday insisted they would not go near a clinic because they feared there were still many operating without proper qualifications.

A further 15 percent said they would avoid treatment locally because they were worried about the standard of service they might receive.

The poll results come a few months after a survey of 3,300 girls and women aged 15 to 64 in 10 countries in the Middle East, asking them whether they would consider plastic surgery.

It found that 37 percent of Arabic girls between the ages of 15 and 17 would consider cosmetic surgery in the near future.

In contrast, a much lower percentage of women between the ages of 18 and 64 said they considered surgical procedures to be a viable option - just 27 percent.

The Arabian Business poll also revealed that just nine percent of respondents said they would happily use cosmetic surgery clinics in the region and were confident about the levels of professionalism.

Another nine percent said that health officials needed to step up their campaign to regulate clinics further but they would still consider treatment.

The Department of Health and Medical Services, part of the new Dubai Health Authority, is monitoring around 1,000 clinics that have opened in Dubai.

Among the cases investigated by the department were a female patient who went into a coma after undergoing liposuction and another 27-year-old Emirati woman who died after having the same treatment.

Seven people are before the Dubai courts accused of negligence arising from the death of the woman.

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