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The Ministry of Health is pushing for the introduction of Standard Operating Procedures to regulate high-risk personal services such as tattooing, body piercing, and massage parlors as concerns are growing over public safety and hygiene.

During a public consultation on the review of the Public Health Act, Acting Chief Health Inspector Luke Vonotabua stressed that formal SOPs are essential to guide monitoring, inspection, and enforcement, as well as to help operators meet public health standards.

Vonotabua believes that the current legislation does not adequately cover the emerging industries, despite their growing public health risks.

“The high-risk activities that are happening. We have the hairdressers. And the new ones are coming. That is the massage parlor, the tattooing, the piercing, the body piercing. Those are the new activities that are coming.  And I think it is important, it is high-risk.”

Vonotabua believes that SOPS will provide a structured approach for monitoring, inspection, and enforcement.

“That is an area that we feel that we need to have a standard operating procedure or checklist on how it should be operating, especially on how they also manage their waste.  Because this, I think, involves blood and all that.”

A Public Health Consultant Dr Samuela Korovou also highlighted gaps in the Public Health Act.

“We are talking about HIV and AIDS.  Who is going to do the monitoring and evaluation and also looking at the infringement if it is going to be an outbreak of HIV. At the moment, it is a crisis in Fiji.”

The Ministry confirmed that these concerns will be incorporated into the ongoing review of the Public Health Act, which is being updated for the first time in decades to reflect current health realities.

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