Mar 17, 2009 (DVB), The number of unregistered clinics offering cheap cosmetic surgery by unqualified surgeons has increased in Burma over the last year, according to beauty stylists and government officials.

Many clinics are offering services including breast implantation and face modification for women, yet do not meet the qualification standards to perform plastic surgery operations, said a beauty stylist.

The operations performed by unqualified doctors and surgeons are not always successful, he said, and have left some customers with serious health-related side effects.

"They often miscalculate in operations such as nose replacement and the customer is left with a nose looking worse than the one he or she wanted to get rid of before," he said.

Ko Ko, owner of Ko Ko beauty salons in Rangoon, said that only well-trained, qualified doctors should handle such sensitive operations.

"These should only be handled by well-trained professionals that have graduated from foreign universities, not by some random person who could only guess what to do next," he said.

"People should be careful with this because if something goes wrong, you can end up ruining your own body."

A senior official at the Ministry of Health said that, according to the law, surgical operations were only allowed to be performed at hospitals approved by the ministry.

He warned that people should consult with professionals and learn the full details of operations they want before starting with them.

In Rangoon, plastic surgery operations were legally available at two well-known private hospitals; Sakura and Bangkok Hospital, with price varying from about 400,000 kyat ($US400) to 800,000 kyat ($US800).

Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat