The Ed.
Well-Known Member
The National Institute for Health Care and Excellence has warned that, with growing numbers of injectable treatments such as tanning agents, Botox and dermal fillers, there are concerns regarding lax hygiene.
NICE are currently updating advice for England and Wales accordingly and the guidelines are currently out for public consultation. One of the aims is to encourage people to use sterile needle and syringe programmes to stem the spread of infections.
Most blood-borne diseases occur among people injecting drugs and steriods, but NICE are concerned that this risk is spreading to those people seeking cosmetic fixes.
A spokesperson for NICE said, "We are seeing an increasing issue with drugs that are used for vanity purposes."
Prof. Mike Kelly, Director of the NICE Centre for Public Health Excellence explains further, "Since we last published our guidance on needle and syringe programmes in 2009, we've seen an increase in the use of performance-and-image enhancing drugs such as anabolic steriods, Botox, tanning agents and the use of dermal fillers like collagen.
"We've also heard anecdotal evidence that more teenagers are injecting these performance-and-image enhancing drugs too. We're updating out guidance - and our public consultation on the draft update is an important part of this process - to make sure all of these groups of people are considered in the planning and delivery of needle and syringe programmes."
One of the proposals thought to be being considered is the provision of sharps boxes by local councils for safe disposal of used needles.
"Due to the lack of regulation in the cosmetic sector it is impossible to know how many patients could be at risk of blood-borne diseases from needle sharing with either Botox or fillers," explains Rajiv Grover, consultant plastic surgeon and president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
"These should be considered medical procedures and BAAPS has campaigned for over a decade to have this field of non-surgical cosmetic treatments tightly regulated. The dangers of sharing needles in cosmetic injectables are so great that any practitioner who does this should be considered guilty of a criminal offence and nothing less."
Until then...geek on!
The Ed.
NICE are currently updating advice for England and Wales accordingly and the guidelines are currently out for public consultation. One of the aims is to encourage people to use sterile needle and syringe programmes to stem the spread of infections.
Most blood-borne diseases occur among people injecting drugs and steriods, but NICE are concerned that this risk is spreading to those people seeking cosmetic fixes.
A spokesperson for NICE said, "We are seeing an increasing issue with drugs that are used for vanity purposes."
Prof. Mike Kelly, Director of the NICE Centre for Public Health Excellence explains further, "Since we last published our guidance on needle and syringe programmes in 2009, we've seen an increase in the use of performance-and-image enhancing drugs such as anabolic steriods, Botox, tanning agents and the use of dermal fillers like collagen.
"We've also heard anecdotal evidence that more teenagers are injecting these performance-and-image enhancing drugs too. We're updating out guidance - and our public consultation on the draft update is an important part of this process - to make sure all of these groups of people are considered in the planning and delivery of needle and syringe programmes."
One of the proposals thought to be being considered is the provision of sharps boxes by local councils for safe disposal of used needles.
"Due to the lack of regulation in the cosmetic sector it is impossible to know how many patients could be at risk of blood-borne diseases from needle sharing with either Botox or fillers," explains Rajiv Grover, consultant plastic surgeon and president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
"These should be considered medical procedures and BAAPS has campaigned for over a decade to have this field of non-surgical cosmetic treatments tightly regulated. The dangers of sharing needles in cosmetic injectables are so great that any practitioner who does this should be considered guilty of a criminal offence and nothing less."
Until then...geek on!
The Ed.
