Prevalence of Illegal Online Advertisements among Aesthetic Medical Clinics in Phetchabun Province

Abstract

Objective: To study the prevalence of illegal online advertising of aesthetic medical clinics in Phetchabun. Method: The researchers collected data on all online advertisements during 2 months (January and February, 2021) of all aesthetic medical clinics in Phetchabun (11 clinics, 2 of which had 2 branches sharing common advertising channels, resulting in 9 clinics being searched for online-advertising. Social media initially surveyed in the study were facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube, line and websites of the clinics. It was found that there was at least one channel of media advertisement in every clinic. All clinics employed facebook as advertising channel. This research therefore examined whether ads posted on facebook violated the Department of Health Service Support’s Announcement on Rules, Methods and Conditions and Costs of Advertising or the Announcements on Sanatorium B.E. 2562 in accordance with the Sanatorium Act B.E. 2541, Announcement No 50/2549 of the Medical Council on words prohibited for use in advertisements, and the Resolution of the Board of Sanatorium on advertisement of sanatorium. Results: During study time, a total of 222 ads of the clinics on facebook were found, 180 of which were illegal (81.08%). When classified according to the risk from medication procedures, 100 or 45.05% of the ads involved procedures regarded as high risk, such as the ads on the services with nipping, dipping, injecting, and needle inserting. The Announcement of the Department of Health Service Support was violated most in item 7(1) or statements considered false or untrue, exaggerated, deceptive, concealing the truth (35 ads or 19.44%). The Medical Council Announcement No. 50/2549 was violated most in item 1 or using the word "just" (23 ads or 12.78%). The Resolution of the Board of Sanatorium was violated most on the Resolution dated May 15, 2018 on botox (75 ads or 41.67%). Conclusion: 81.08% of online advertising of medical clinics providing aesthetic services in Phetchabun violated the law. The results of this study can be used to create a manual for approving the advertisement of hospitals in Phetchabun, and to publicize information about ads permission and penalties for illegal advertising in order for the advertisers to know and follow it correctly.