Saqib Bhatti, Member of Parliament for Meriden, has given his backing to a Private Members Bill in Parliament to ban the use of the botulinum toxin and cosmetic fillers in procedures on under-18-year-olds for aesthetic purposes.
The new Bill proposes that only cosmetic procedures undertaken on medical grounds under the direction of a doctor registered with the General Medical Council, will be permitted.
During the debate, Saqib Bhatti said “I was shocked that children under the age of 18 are able to get these treatments, in what can sometimes be described as the “Wild West” of non-medical cosmetics”.
In understanding the social strains faced by children today, Saqib said “think of the pressures that they have in everyday society, which, by the way, did not start with social media.
I remember, when I was growing up, stories of teens reading magazines and eating disorders coming up. This has been a long-standing issue, although social media has accentuated it”.
In the closing statements of his speech, Saqib Bhatti said “I can only see this Bill as a piece of common sense, it does not ban cosmetic fillers on medical grounds, but purely on aesthetic grounds, if you are under the age of 18. For this reason, I wholeheartedly support this Bill”.
