Beauty - at what price?

Regulatory Authority to raid salons islandwide:

By Manjula FERNANDO

'Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder', goes the old saying. But one could not help but wonder if this still stands true, with the painstaking efforts women and men make to 'look beautiful'.

A visit to a beauty parlour or the salon is no more a necessity among the rich and famous. It has become so routine that the staff can read the clients' whims and fancies with one look. And the places have long evolved from their standard haircuts and facials to offer tailor-made services. Highlighting, tinting, bleaching, perming, straightening to mention a few if it concerns only the mane. Others include waxing, bleaching, massaging, manicure and pedicure all of which cannot do without the chemical based beauty products that have invaded our market.

But how many of you knew that 30 percent of the cosmetics currently on sale in supermarkets, pharmacies and cosmetic shops do not have a proper permit from the Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Regulatory Authority which is the sole State body that holds the power to check whether what you apply on your skin does not contain harmful substances. This is excluding the pharmaceuticals, functional food and dietary supplements that are prescribed by so-called 'beauticians'.

So far the authorities had to turn a blind eye as to what went on behind closed doors of these 'Salons' as they hardly possessed laws to regulate their dealings, until recently.

The news of a woman's death due to an allergic reaction following treatment in a beauty parlour, stirred a hornet's nest and jolted the authorities into taking action.

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena learned that the cosmetic laws need more teeth to protect the consumers and customers and the penalties under the existing law are just a joke. The fourth amendment to the Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Act of 1980 is now before the Legal Draftsman's office and hence is expected to be presented expeditiously in Parliament before the end of the year. It will enable the Authority to regularly keep an eye on the booming beauty sector in the country.

A second Bill to set up a National Medicinal Drug Regulatory Authority, is too being fine tuned by the Legal Draftsman to give wider powers to the law enforcing body namely the CDDA. The Minister is keen that this Bill too is presented in Parliament before the end of the year, the Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Regulatory Authority post Dr. Hemantha Beneragama said. He said the arrangements are under way to conduct islandwide raids on beauty parlours next month.

"We will be inspecting the products they use to find if there are any unlicensed products. Hygienic conditions of the parlours will also be taken into consideration," he explained. Under the existing laws the CDDA can arrest the owners and pursue legal action if they are found to be using unlicensed products in their salons.

The CDDA could deploy authorised offices, provincial directors, district directors, food and drug inspectors and medical officers of health in the raids. According to Dr. Beneragama over 3,500 different varieties of cosmetic products have been registered with the CDDA. But according to a research by the Lanka Market Research Bureau, 30 percent of the cosmetics available in the market are unlicensed. Many products like fairness cream and night cream from countries like India, China, Thailand are available in the country.

These low priced products are destroying the market for the genuine local products because the imported raw materials for the cosmetics are highly taxed. "We are in the process of designing a website for the CDDA. Once it is activated, people will have free access to the licensed drugs and cosmetics and devices within Sri Lanka. This way we hope to create awareness so that people cannot be easily fooled."

Dr. Beneragama said, at the moment they cannot regulate or monitor the advertisements on cosmetics and devices to check and report if the products they promote are authentic. "We have the purview to regulate and monitor only medicinal drugs." Under our laws only drugs that can be purchased over the counter like paracetamol, balms and herbal medicinal drinks can be promoted via advertisements.

The laws in the offing however, will cover the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and others in this category as well. Once the amendment is passed, hopefully by early next year, prior approval will be mandatory before a cosmetic product is advertised via media. Commenting on the disturbing trend of pharmaceuticals and health supplements with numerous claims being promoted via electronic media, particularly television, he said the regulation of such products cannot be done by laws alone. "Ethics play a big role in this.

The media's contribution in creating awareness on bogus products made a big impact and should be appreciated," Dr. Beneragama said adding that however, some media houses were in the business of promoting products that could be misleading as to their therapeutic claims. "With the limited staff we cannot be watching each and every TV programme and visit pharmacies, shops as well as beauty salons everyday.

Self-regulation and the need to abide by own ethics is an important thing." "We have to curb the practice of beauticians prescribing drugs to their customers. We received complaints and the new laws will enable us to take action when this distinction between the medical doctors and beauticians are being violated."

However the new laws will have to be supported by capacity building within the State testing institutions, the Sri Lanka Standards Institute and the Industrial Technology Institute since many of the modern cosmetics and nutrceuticals as well as devices cannot be tested for verification of their claims, in laboratories here. Presently, certified lab reports submitted by the manufacturer are accepted by the CDDA in the case of imported products provided that the same product is allowed in their domestic market. "It is our advice not to use unlicensed products because no matter the therapeutic claims they offer, they could carry carcinogens (cancer causing substances) that trigger skin cancer. If the product is absorbed into the internal system, this can cause liver and kidney damage.

The most common symptom, however, is hypersensitivity/allergy." Nevertheless all cosmetic products, even those licensed, need to be tested before individual-use because even the licensed products may be allergic to certain individuals. Dr. Beneragama said some externally used cosmetics, made only for the use of professionals are freely sold in the market.

The products specifically indicate 'professional use only'. "But in Sri Lanka these products are freely sold at supermarkets and shops. The ad-hoc use of such products may lead to health complications." The regulations in the draft amendments will curtail such practices as well.

Beneragama said his final advice for the public is not to get misled by the dazzling advertisements and their claims which are mostly deceptive, noting that the final result often than not will be a long-term health complication and a 'fair skin' or 'smooth hair'.