Dubai: The Ministry of Health and Prevention on Saturday warned people against using skin-whitening creams without consulting a physician, particularly products marketed on social media.
It said such products could pose “grave health hazards” and cause permanent skin damage, including facial bleaching and occurrence of dark spots.
Dr Ameen Hussain Al Amiri, the ministry’s assistant undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing, said there is a growing demand among teenage girls to use skin-whitening products, which has led some social media influencers to promote creams that should only be administered by medical prescription.
These influencers, he said, present their personal experiences using the creams in videos that are shared with their followers, encouraging them to do the same. Dr Al Amiri added that such encouragement, whether done in good faith or not, could lead to some manufacturing companies or local distributors to contract social influencers to promote their products.
The trend has prompted the ministry, particularly its Health Empowerment and Compliance Department, to implement a system of monitoring the content of these social media accounts and form a team to track some of the suspected accounts.
It also encouraged residents to report to the ministry any misleading or suspicious advertisement by calling 80011111, or to contact any other government health authority in the UAE.
Dr Al Amiri urged the public to ignore misleading advertisements that promote some skin-whitening creams without medical consultation. He said many ads on social media are misleading and promote products that are not medically proven to be safe or effective.
The assistant undersecretary also noted that many of these products are typically sold online without prescription and illegally marketed. Furthermore, some of them are misleadingly marketed as medical and pharmacological “innovations”.
Dr Al Amiri urged women seeking skin whitening to approach only authorised health-care facilities to benefit from medically approved and trusted services.
Dr Hessa Ali Mubarak, director of the ministry’s Empowerment and Medical Compliance Department, said a lot of the traditional preparations and whitening creams sold without authorisation are usually prepared with pharmacological compounds and creams that contain hydroquinone, corticosteroids and Vitamin A products, which cause compounded side effects.
Dr Anwar Al Hammadi, head of dermatology society at Emirates Medical Association, said: “Among the shocking preparations we came to notice in a video that was posted by a lady was her use of a facial skin whitener containing Dermovate cream, which is the most powerful corticosteroid used in the market to treat cases of eczema and severe psoriasis… I hope there would be a legislation to incriminate those who misuse medicines, particularly when damage is sustained by children and teens.”
Precautions when using whitening creams
Avoid sun exposure to prevent hyperpigmentation
Don’t apply creams close to eyes, wounds or lesions
Don’t use after shave creams; and avoid them during pregnancy or breastfeeding
Apply sparingly to the skin to ensure it does not cause any allergy before using it regularly
Hazards associated with misuse of sample products
Creams containing corticosteroids (such as Dermovate) should be dispensed by a medical prescription and used under the supervision of a specialist. Corticosteroids have side effects that usually occur after prolonged use, high dose or lack of medical supervision, such as skin numbness, atrophy, itching and stinging.
Differin Gel can cause some adverse effects, including dryness and allergy, and it must be applied at night time only because it reacts with sunlight. It should be used under medical supervision and it could cause skin irritation on initial use.
Hi-Queen is an unregistered product that contains four per cent hydroquinone, a widely used chemical substance available in the form of cosmetics, particularly prescribed for skin whitening.
Initially, users of hydroquinone creams may see whitening in their skin, however, when exposed to the sun, adverse effects will soon occur leading to the tanning of the skin and the occurrence of dark spots. Very long-term use of these type of creams could lead to skin cancer.
Sources: Dr Hessa Ali Mubarak, director of the ministry’s Empowerment and Medical Compliance Department, and Ministry of Health and Prevention
