A month before her wedding, Nesma, 26, visited a beauty and laser-treatment centre in Zagazig, Sharqia, for laser hair removal. Three weeks later, she noticed rough, raised bumps in her genital area. A dermatologist diagnosed genital warts, caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).
The doctor asked whether she was married. Nesma said she was due to marry in a week and had never had sex. The doctor discussed skin-to-skin transmission, the risk of passing HPV to her partner and whether she had received an HPV vaccine. Nesma had not.
Nesma recalls being told that most HPV infections clear within one or two years, while persistent infections can pose longer-term risks. An important distinction is that the HPV types causing genital warts differ from the high-risk types that cause cancer, as the CDC’s treatment guidance explains.
“I was devastated. It felt as though someone had poured a bucket of cold water over my head, and I saw my future falling apart.”
Nesma asked whether treatment was available and whether she should cancel the wedding. When the doctor asked about recent beauty-centre visits, she described the laser sessions. According to Nesma, the doctor suspected inadequate sterilisation at the centre and said she had encountered other patients with infections after such visits. The precise source of Nesma’s infection was not independently established.
She told her fiancé and requested a postponement. He was understanding, but they both lost money rearranging their wedding-hall reservation. Nesma considered suing the centre but feared she would be unable to prove it caused the infection.
She says she received pulsed-dye laser treatment to remove the warts. Recovery took about three weeks, leaving marks and scars that required creams prescribed under medical supervision.
During the previous summer, Dina, 32, visited a beauty centre in Cairo’s Nasr City for a cold peel, a non-surgical procedure intended to remove damaged superficial skin. The centre was crowded. When she entered the treatment room, a receptionist insisted on bringing in another client, a relative who was in a hurry, accompanied by her young daughter carrying sweets and crisps.
Dina says the practitioner, whom staff called a doctor, alternated between treating her and the other woman without changing gloves or disinfecting her hands or equipment.
Three days after the session, as her facial skin peeled, numerous spots and boils appeared, causing redness and itching. The centre told her it was an allergy and suggested an antihistamine, but did not allow her to speak to the practitioner. Dina sought opinions from two dermatologists.
“Both doctors agreed that I had a streptococcal infection because of the lack of sterilisation and hygiene at the centre,” she tells Zawia3. They prescribed treatment, and she posted in a social-media group to warn other women about the centre.
The report cites a 2006 health ministerial decree regulating the import and medical use of lasers, under laws governing medicine and pharmacy and the organisation of the Health Ministry. It requires import approval and certification from Cairo University’s National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences that a device is safe for its intended application, alongside general medical-equipment import requirements.
A growing market and lasting harm
Following a painful separation, Omnia, 43, visited a beauty centre in Cairo’s Fifth Settlement seeking treatment for dark circles, fresher skin and fuller lips. She hoped changing her appearance would help her emerge from a difficult emotional period.
She underwent fractional laser treatment, which uses small beams to stimulate skin renewal. The practitioner also injected filler into her lips and under her eyes, claiming it would reduce dark circles, puffiness and wrinkles.
The practitioner, who presented herself as a doctor, said brief swelling was normal. The next day, however, Omnia noticed severe swelling and lumps under the injected skin. She sent photographs to the centre on WhatsApp and was again told the swelling would resolve by itself.
A week later, spots appeared across her face. Returning to the centre, she says the practitioner blamed sensitive skin and hair oils or creams and offered another peel. Omnia refused but was persuaded to undergo a Dermapen microneedling session, a technique used for scars and other skin concerns. Her condition worsened.
“My face became severely inflamed, and the area under my eyes turned black,” Omnia tells Zawia3. She waited for improvement as instructed but eventually saw a dermatologist, who diagnosed a bacterial infection and suspected it had been acquired during fractional laser treatment. He also suspected poor-quality filler had contributed to the reaction, she says.
Three weeks of antibiotics stopped new spots appearing, but marks remained. Omnia says she still suffers recurring sensitivity and inflammation resembling sunburn, alongside dark discolouration under her eyes. She regrets both the damage and the thousands of pounds spent on unsuccessful procedures, which worsened her emotional distress.
Unqualified practitioners and infection control
Essam Farag, a dermatology professor at Ain Shams University’s Faculty of Medicine, tells Zawia3 that cosmetic procedures require properly qualified specialists. He says people impersonating doctors with spurious qualifications are not licensed to practise in Egypt and can cause burns, scars, disfigurement and infections requiring lengthy treatment.
Farag warns particularly against laser hair-removal sessions performed by non-specialists, saying trained doctors understand laser risks and infection-prevention procedures. He calls for sterilising treatment-device contact parts between patients and using suitable extraction where procedures generate a plume.
Farag raises concerns about HPV and contaminated equipment or plumes. The CDC recommends ventilation and smoke evacuation when treating anogenital or oral warts; that precaution should not be read as proof that routine laser hair removal caused any particular patient’s HPV infection.
Ahmed Gamal El Sharkawy, a plastic surgery professor at Cairo University and deputy head of the Egyptian Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, says some non-specialists use lasers and inject Botox or fillers after only short training courses. They copy techniques without understanding anatomy, complications or how to prevent and manage them.
Short technical training does not equip a practitioner to recognise and manage potentially serious complications, El Sharkawy warns.
Such practitioners may delay appropriate care by reassuring patients or offering ineffective treatments before eventually referring them to a specialist, he says. He warns against choosing a clinic solely because it is cheaper.
Incorrect laser use and failure to perform appropriate testing can cause burns, scars and pigmentation changes. El Sharkawy says he has treated patients with laser-related marks and burns, and others with scarring, inflammation or swelling after poor-quality filler injections.
He attributes infections associated with poorly performed treatments to unsterile dressings, reused plastic templates, failure to wear appropriate gloves or use of the same gloves for multiple patients. Procedures that disrupt the skin barrier increase infection risk.
El Sharkawy distinguishes laser energy itself from contaminated materials used during treatment: the energy is not an infectious agent, while poor hygiene around the procedure can expose patients to infection.
There is no recent comprehensive official count of Egypt’s licensed and unlicensed beauty clinics. A Value feasibility-study estimate lists around 524 cosmetic medical clinics and 50 hospitals offering cosmetic services. Figures attributed to Cairo Chamber of Commerce’s hairdressers division in 2015 put the wider sector at around 10,000 beauty centres and one million hairdressing businesses, supporting two million jobs. These estimates concern different categories and dates.
A Health Ministry statement in February 2022 said inspection campaigns had detected more than 3,000 non-compliant medical facilities and referred them for investigation. Its private-treatment and medical-licensing department received more than 1,300 complaints during 2021 and investigated them. The ministry said it had prepared a list of unlicensed medical and beauty centres to circulate.
According to the licensing administration, violations found during inspections of more than 40,000 medical facilities in 2021 included inadequate infection control, operating without licences, unqualified or unlicensed staff, and counterfeit or expired medicines, which were seized and documented.
Closures across Cairo and other governorates
Authorities have repeatedly closed unlicensed beauty centres and facilities breaching infection-control requirements. Campaigns intensified in recent months as social-media advertising, especially on TikTok, expanded and patients posted complaints on Facebook and video platforms.
In March 2025, the Health Ministry’s administration for non-governmental treatment institutions and licensing closed Tosca Beauty Center in Cairo’s Nozha district, citing failure to meet health requirements and operating without a licence.
In February, it announced the closure of Diva Clinic in Sheraton, Nozha, citing health violations, lack of a licence and no specialist dermatologist. Officials also reported large quantities of medicines of unknown origin and products not registered with the ministry or Egyptian Drug Authority.
In January, a ministry inspection campaign in Cairo and Giza led to the closure of Jovia Clinic branches in Mohandessin, 6th of October, Maadi, Haram, Hadayek Al Ahram and Nasr City for health and infection-control violations.
In May 2024, the ministry announced the closure of Sama Clinic, a well-known private dermatology and laser facility on Abbas El Akkad Street in Nasr City. It said the clinic operated without a licence and was run by someone impersonating a physician, despite advertising specialist-led treatment and filler injections.
Investigators referred the Sama Clinic case and two other defendants for trial on allegations including medical negligence, establishing an unlicensed clinic, misuse of social media and impersonating a doctor, in Nasr City misdemeanour case 7104/2024.
In August 2024, an engineer was arrested after allegedly impersonating a doctor and opening a beauty clinic in a Nasr City medical centre, performing procedures on celebrities and other clients for substantial fees. Prosecutors ordered four days’ detention pending investigation and the centre’s closure and sealing.
In October 2024, drug inspectors reported detecting a person impersonating a dermatology and cosmetic specialist and others practising medicine without licences. Cairo health officials sealed a dermatology, cosmetic and laser centre, reporting unauthorised laser devices and large quantities of smuggled or unapproved medicines and products.
In June 2023, Qena health inspectors sealed a major unlicensed beauty centre allegedly run by a woman impersonating a physician. It had advertised treatments and mesotherapy for skin and hair on social media. That year, Giza’s governor also ordered a beauty clinic on Gamet El Dowal El Arabia Street in Mohandessin closed for operating without a licence.
Mohamed Hassan Khalil, head of the Right to Health Committee, tells Zawia3 that supervision of cosmetic clinics and medical facilities is weakened by limited funding, resources and staffing. Forged qualifications and spurious certificates bought abroad compound the problem, he says.
He stresses that laser procedures and filler or Botox injections require appropriately licensed medical professionals. Injections penetrate the skin and carry risks including infection, he notes, while problems in the regulations governing facilities contribute to disorder.
Licensing gaps and calls for stronger enforcement
Mahmoud Fouad, executive director of the Egyptian Center for the Right to Medicine, says beauty centres have attracted many people without relevant qualifications. Some take online cosmetic courses and obtain certificates from a body described as a cosmetic professions syndicate; others come from hairdressing and present themselves as medical cosmetic specialists.
He recounts a ministry raid on seven branches of a prominent clinic chain in affluent neighbourhoods, saying three branches were unlicensed and staff and managers were not doctors.
Fouad says laser devices should be coded and approved by the national laser institute, used in registered medical facilities and operated by licensed dermatologists or plastic surgeons with the necessary permission. He says his centre has received complaints ranging from burns to infections.
Some centres exposed through those complaints were later closed and referred to prosecutors, he says, after which they sought doctors whose names could be used on licensing documents.
Fouad describes a dermatologist from Assiut who moved to work at a clinic in Cairo’s Zeitoun district. According to his account, she found patients suffering burns, scars or loss of pigmentation, discovered that colleagues were not doctors and learned that filler products were being made in a flat.
He says she consulted a lawyer to prepare a complaint but was threatened with having a corrosive substance thrown at her face, prompting her to leave and return home. He adds that the clinic paid compensation to some patients, including people who approached his organisation. These allegations are attributed to Fouad.
Fouad estimates there are around 25,000 beauty centres and clinics in Egypt, roughly 70% unlicensed or operating on preliminary approvals without completing legal procedures. These are his estimates, not an official census. Effective supervision, he says, would require far more inspectors.
He says his organisation attended parliamentary discussions the previous week on medical advertising and misleading cosmetic promotions on TikTok. He advocates legislation providing penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment and EGP 1 million in fines, arguing that fines alone and loopholes would not deter impersonators. These comments describe the proposals discussed at the time of the report.
The report’s account of the medical-facilities law as amended in 2004 says operating before licensing can lead to closure and fines of up to EGP 50,000. Reopening a facility before the reasons for a judicial or administrative closure have been resolved can attract up to one year’s imprisonment, a fine of EGP 10,000–20,000, or either penalty.
Article 13 of Law 51 of 1981 on medical facilities provides for revoking a facility’s licence if it operates for a purpose other than the licensed one or employs people not licensed to practise medicine.
The Health Ministry’s published laser-centre licensing requirements include certification for the device and facility from the national laser institute, completion of laser-safety training, permission to use medical laser devices, professional registration and a medical-facility operating licence.
The listed documents also include a layout plan, the doctor’s specialist qualification and ministry practice licence, identification and two photographs. The fees cited in the report were EGP 4,000 for the premises licence and EGP 1,000 for the individual licence.
Experts say the number of unlicensed or non-compliant centres exceeds those detected and closed, leaving patients exposed to avoidable harm.
While the ministry periodically announces closures, women continue to report scars, burns and infections after procedures performed by non-specialists or people impersonating doctors. The accounts point to inadequate sterilisation and infection control, weak oversight and what specialists describe as insufficiently deterrent legal enforcement across Egypt’s governorates.
