The professionalism of Malta's beauty therapists

The Malta Association of Beauty Therapists (MABT) felt it should publicly show its disappointment at the way Bondi + (TVM, January 7) tackled the local situation. I comment both on behalf of our members as well as on behalf of non-members who are fully qualified and offer a sterling service to their clients.

The programme was in itself unbalanced since there was no beauty therapists' representative present, even though a very important issue was being discussed, namely obesity and treatment of obese people, where beauty treatments seemed to come under particular scrutiny that evening.

This discussion took place in the presence of a physician who is currently working in the cosmetic-medical field as well as a nutritionist but in the total absence of a beauty therapist or a representative of MABT which is the official body representing beauty therapists in Malta.

When MABT complained, we were told that a beautician who originally had agreed to appear on the show later declined. However MABT should have been contacted even at this late stage.

The association wishes to make people aware that today courses for beauticians are those running for at least three years taken in three different modules, and entail study of anatomy and physiology of face and body plus a knowledge of physics in order to grasp the notion of the various electrical treatments.

The syllabus covers basic nutrition, figure diagnosis, diet and exercise. First aid is also included, as well as business organisation, a final examination which has to be undertaken during the third year examinations and helps the student who is considering opening her own business.

Of course we realise there are many "cowboys" around but this is the same with every profession around the world. This is exactly why MABT was set up in 1993 - to ensure that only qualified beauty therapists should be entitled to work as such.

Not only would we like to see the customer safeguarded in Malta but we have also worked on a research programme with regards to the beauty therapy profession in Europe and in candidate countries. This research was presented in Brussels last April. It is the duty of each individual country to set up associations, boards, registration or warrants to ensure that the only people offering a service to the public are those qualified and certified to do so.

The beauty therapist has to study medical conditions, diseases, and other ailments to be able to recognise them and not give treatment where this is contraindicated. It is the duty of every beauty therapist to ask personal questions regarding the state of health of the client and this information is strictly private. This is done to safeguard the client from any malpractice as well as to refer the client to medical doctors and nutritionists where necessary.

We do not do it to diagnose the client but our knowledge is sufficient for us to recognise the need for a client to be referred to the right channels in time for necessary action. This usually works very well with many doctors, nutritionists and beauty therapists but unfortunately the programme seemed to imply that beauticians are a bunch of money-grabbers who also leave the choice of treatment to the client's desires or to the extent of her bank account!

When we contacted the presenter with our complaints, we were actually invited to the continuation of the programme which took place on radio the next day. This helped somewhat in giving the opportunity to other beauticians to air their views with regard to the programme; however it by no means compares with the impact the televised programme had on its viewers.

We totally agree that wherever people either break the law or bring their profession into disrepute, this should be made public, but we totally disagree with the statement that since the presenters had contacted two big entities this could in some way reflect the whole of beauty therapy practice in Malta. In fact this is a far cry from the truth as there are many small outlets providing a very professional and satisfying service.

Serious beauty therapists do not treat obese people but have every right to treat overweight persons provided that the client's health condition is stable and if necessary a doctor's consent is required. The so-called "obese persons" shown on TV for treatment at the two establishments were in fact not obese at all, but just overweight.

We believe the public should also be aware that the great majority of importers of beauty therapy machines, which incidentally have medical standards approval, actually provide in-house training plus regular updates to all those who opt to buy their equipment.

MABT had insisted with these importers that it was of utmost importance that these machines are sold to those with recognised qualifications, hence the importers themselves will have fewer problems whereas the public will always be safeguarded. It is, after all, in their interest to make sure that machinery is operated by those who will not misuse it or cause harm to clients.

We are certain that the aim of the programme was to make the public aware that specific treatments are to be left to professionals, be they doctors, nutritionists or beauty therapists. This in itself should make people ask more questions about the training and qualifications of those they seek for any kind of treatment. It was certainly not meant to create antagonism between any of the professions.

For serious beauty therapists it was an eye-opener as to the importance of belonging to a professional body such as our association. The public must be protected from sham treatments and quacks but not to the detriment of all those who strive to make sure that standards, regulations, codes of practice and ethics are kept high on their agenda.

Ms Magri Naudi is president of Malta Association of Beauty Therapists and secretary-general of the European Confederation of Beauticians