Health ministry shuts down a beauty clinic after the death of a customer following a cosmetic procedure on March 3. FB
The Ministry of Health has instructed health departments across the country to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of public and private healthcare providers in their jurisdictions, especially in the field of cosmetic medicine.
The instructions followed the ministry’s annual meeting held on March 7 to review its work results in 2022 and direction for 2023.
On March 3, a woman died while undergoing cosmetic surgery at M25 International Beauty Centre in Srah Chak commune of the capital’s Daun Penh district.
A March 8 letter signed by minister Mam Bun Heng said that closer monitoring is necessary to ensure that healthcare providers meet the standards set by the ministry.
Bun Heng recommended that public and private health facilities adhere to professional ethics and observe all applicable laws. Health departments must conduct regular inspections, and legal action should be taken against facilities which are non-compliant.
“The ministry and the Health Professional Council will provide training on the governance of all healthcare facilities to all capital and provincial health departments, so that they can ensure all licensed health care services comply with the standards that have been set,” said the letter.
Prak Von, director of the Kampong Chhnang provincial health department, told The Post that he had followed the guidelines closely and regularly inspected health facilities in the province.
He said the department would continue to do so in order to protect the safety of the public.
“We regularly inspect private health clinics and centres. We have not issued any licence for cosmetic surgery service in Kampong Chhnang. For authorised clinics, we have inspected them regularly and determined that all of them are in compliance,” he said.
He noted that the province has 800 public health officials and 12 licensed private clinics.
At the March 7 meeting, Bun Heng also declared the ministry’s commitment to modernising the Kingdom’s healthcare services, and maintaining its high standards of care.
“From 2018 to 2022, the ministry fined 540 businesses for mismanaging medication. We also closed down 347 illegal healthcare providers,” he said.
