APSMAN asks FG to set up regulatory board for aesthetics medicine

Felix Avajah, president of the Association of Practitioners of Spa and Medical Aesthetics of Nigeria (APSMAN), has implored the federal government to set up a regulatory board to oversee the affairs of the industry.

Avajah spoke on Saturday during the graduation ceremony of medical aestheticians from the Federal College of Education, Akoka, and the Lagos state College of Health technology, Yaba.

The APSMAN president emphasised how crucial it is for aestheticians to undergo the education process with minimum of two years in any of the accredited institutions.

He advised the graduands to exercise high level of professionalism in their jobs and to “know their limits”.

“It is for us to have a board that would regulate the industry. Now, an association cannot be a board because we have to get an approval from government,” Avajah said.

“So, what we do now is that we are using government accredited institutions like the Lagos State College of Health technology and others, where their certificates can be recognised.

“We understand that an association cannot regulate. That is why we partner with government accredited institutions to kickstart. 

“So, definitely we have started well. Having standard academic programmes with procedures that can help remove quacks and encourage people.”

Akinmayowa Akin-Otiko, a senior research fellow at the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies at the University of Lagos, emphasised the need for collaboration between herbal and aesthetics medicine to improve the general wellness of the body.

Akin-Otiko added that while spa treatments are often seen as cosmetic procedures, they also have significant medicinal benefits, serving as a form of preventive medicine.

“Gone are the days when we say traditional medicine is harmful. There is monitoring, proper processing and administration. We now have data to justify whatever we are doing in the profession,” Akin-Otiko said.

“Collaboration is the way. Western medicine alone cannot solve our problems. Traditional herbal medicine provides the wellness while aesthetics now creates the beauty.”

The event saw 106 graduands inducted into the aesthetics industry.