Ban ads for breast implants, say MEPs

ADS for breast implants should be banned with all information available only through the national public health services, according to MEPs.

Women looking for implants should have a cooling-off period of four to six weeks to think about the dangers and decide whether they really want the surgery.

MEP Avril Doyle said the medical advice should not come from any organisation that will benefit financially from the procedure.

"We must make sure there is objective medical advice and a cooling off period but in the end a consenting adult must be allowed to make their own choice," she said.

France has already banned direct advertising and the members of the European Parliament's Health and Consumer committee, including Ms Doyle, wants the other member states to do the same.

Up to 80% of the thousands of breast implant operations performed each year in the EU are for cosmetic reasons, with just 20% for medical reasons.

"Most of this surgery is unnecessary and the demand is being fueled by advertisements from commercial companies," said British MEP Catherine Stihler. Hundreds of breast implant operations are carried out here each year.

All advertisements for cosmetic surgery should also carry clear health warnings, she added. Ms Stihler said the emphasis should be on promoting women as they are.

"As things stand, we are allowing unregulated advertising practices to impose an ideal conception of beauty as the norm," she said. The MEPs want better information for patients, tracking and surveillance, quality control and research and say implants for under 18s should be allowed only on medical grounds.

The Advance Cosmetic Institute (ACI) in Dublin Ireland's leading breast implant provider rejected MEPs' calls to ban the advertisement of their services.

ACI MD Halina Ashdown-Sheils said: "The Advertising Standards Authority provides strict guidelines and sufficient monitoring of the industry, and we are happy to work within these parameters.

"Breast surgery is one of Ireland's most popular cosmetic surgery treatments, and procedures have increased by 54% in the last year."

Ms Ashdown Sheils doesn't feel a cooling off period is necessary as she feels most women spent a lot of time considering the prospect of implants before proceeding.

Last year, ACI performed over 500 breast implants costing from €4,500. The annual number of breast implant procedures is estimated to be over 2,000.