Recently, the Ethics and Medical Registration Board of the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued new guidelines for aesthetic surgery and hair transplant procedures. The new guidelines were issued to put a check on the "mushrooming salons" carrying out aesthetic procedures in the absence of medical supervision and without requisite qualifications.

As per the new directives, hair transplants should be undertaken only by those who have formal surgical training such as MCh/DNB (Plastic Surgery) and MD/DNB (Dermatology). These specialties should have had hair transplantation as a core topic in their curriculum, thereby having experience and training in performing dermatological surgical procedures.

The guidelines also noted that it was unethical for a medical practitioner to train an individual to perform or assist in surgery who is not an accredited professional licensed to do so. The guidelines also stressed that, as aesthetic procedures are not emergency surgeries, there is no reason for allowing any untrained person to perform these under the pretext of "exceptional circumstances". Hence, it is mandated that the assistants of the operation theatre and technicians be from medical backgrounds, such as nurses, lab technicians, and pharmacists.

(Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/new-guidelines-on-aesthetic-surgery-439745 )