D. Schwarzburg / Wikimedia
Botox injection procedure
Complaints are accumulating about places that do not have qualified professionals in the aesthetics sector; There are risks associated with these procedures.
As complaints relating to places where unqualified professionals perform aesthetic procedures such as the application of ‘botox’ or fillings with hyaluronic acid are increasing, which led authorities to launch a alert campaign.
The campaign “It’s not just aesthetics. It’s health”, which is presented at the Almeida Garrett Municipal Library, in Porto, aims to alert consumers to the risks associated with these procedures, often viewed as simple and safebut which, if done by someone who is not qualified, can have consequences such as infections, tissue death and even permanent deformities.
“Portugal is following the trend of other countries in the world, where this type of facial procedures, application of botulinum toxin [botox] and filling with injectable hyaluronic acid, for example, is quite common”, Mariana Mota Torres, member of the board of directors of the Health Regulatory Entity (ERS), one of the four promoting entities, told Lusa.
The initiative, which also involves Infarmed, the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) and the General Directorate of Consumer Affairs, comes at a time of growing demand of these services, motivated both by increasing publicity and by the influence of social networks.
“The four entities involved believe that the demand for this type of procedure has been increasing”, as a result of the impact of social networks and advertising on the perception of one’s own image and the “incessant search for a more youthful and idealized appearance”, stated the head of ERS.
Earlier this month, we shared that 2026 is seeing a rise in beauty, wellness and fitness services: up 30% in the first quarter of this year.
It was precisely this increase in demand that led the four entities to design this joint campaign, which will be disseminated through their digital channels.
Promoters insist that this initiative “is not intended to discourage carrying out aesthetic procedures, which is always an individual decision”, but rather ensure that consumers have sufficient knowledge to to choose consciously, safely and responsibly.
“What we want is to reinforce and empower users to be able to identify potential risks”, said Mariana Mota Torres, remembering that the two most performed aesthetic procedures in the world – the application of botox and filling with hyaluronic acid – “escape the surgical area”.
Although there is no concrete data to corroborate the idea that these procedures are increasingly sought after by younger and younger people – hence the campaign is aimed at different age groups – the authorities recorded a increase in the number of complaintsrelating to the establishments where these services are provided.
“These data, yes, are concrete, which is the increase in complaints and the increase in interventions carried out by each of the entities, within their legal framework of competences”, he added.
The Health Regulatory Authority ordered suspend activity in 19 establishments of healthcare in three years, mostly due to having identified professionals to carry out procedures in the area of aesthetics for which they were not qualified.
Among the informative material for the launch of the campaign is a video with a testimony from a woman who went to an establishment for one of these aesthetic procedures, which was carried out by an unqualified professional. Result: went wrong and still today has to spend money to correct the situation, which recognizes the will mark “forever”.
According to data released today, ASAE and ERS have received around a thousand complaints in the last nine years related to facial aesthetic procedures carried out by unqualified people.
