植毛手術後に死亡、ＹｏｕＴｕｂｅで独学の素人施術が横行　インド

【ニューデリーＡＦＰ＝時事】頭がはげていたインドのテレビ局幹部アタル・ラシードさん（３０）は、格好良くなって、結婚したいだけだった。しかし、無害に思えた植毛手術が失敗に終わり、敗血症になり死亡した。（写真はインドの首都ニューデリーの診療所で、植毛手術の準備をする人）
　インドの女性は何千年も外見で判断されてきた。だが、物質主義が加速するにつれ、若く見え、見た目も良くなければ社会的地位が脅かされるというプレッシャーを、男性も感じるようになっている。
　見た目を重視する傾向が強まる中、可処分所得も増えたことから、植毛を選択する男性が増加している。しかし、規制が厳しくなく、ユーチューブで独学した素人による施術も横行している。
　ラシードさんは、一家の唯一の稼ぎ手だった。自分の家を持ち、姉妹２人を結婚させて、より良い暮らしを送りたいと夢見ていた。
　しかし、昨年デリーの診療所で植毛手術を受けた後、敗血症になり死亡した。頭部から全身に腫れが広がり、ひどく苦しんだという。
　母親のアシヤ・ベーガムさん（６２）はＡＦＰに対し、「息子はとても苦しんで亡くなった。肝臓が機能しなくなり、他の臓器も駄目になった」と話すと泣き崩れた。
　ラシードさんの家族は、警察に通報した。むくんだ顔と、亡くなる数時間前に全身から出血したためできた黒い発疹を捉えた写真も提出した。
　施術をした２人を含む４人が逮捕されたが、裁判はまだ始まっていない。
　ベーガムさんは、デリー近郊の荒れ果てた場所に立つワンルームの賃貸物件の部屋に座りこう語った。「私は息子を失った。これ以上、一部の人間の不正行為により子どもを失う人が出てほしくない」
　専門家は、デスクワークや喫煙、不適切な食事、ストレスの増加により若年性脱毛となることもあると指摘する。
　適切な外科医の施術を受ければ、植毛手術は患者に自信をもたらし、人生を変えるものとなり得る。
　手術では、後頭部など髪が密集している部分から毛包を採取し、毛が薄くなっている部分の頭皮に移植する。

■８時間にも及ぶ手術
　マヤンク・シン医師は、ニューデリーの高級エリアにある自身の富裕層向け診療所で、月に最大１５件の手術を手掛けている。
　患者の大半は２５～３５歳で、結婚したい、見た目が重要な仕事でキャリアを積みたいといった理由で診療所を訪れる。手術費用は約３５万ルピー（約６０万円）で、１日２ドル（約２７０円）未満で暮らす人が数百万人いるインドでは高額だ。
　訓練を受けていない人が施術するいかがわしい診療所では、わずかな費用しか掛からない。
　インド毛髪外科医師会の幹部でもあるシン氏は、偽医師により業界全体の評判が落ちていると指摘する。「ちょっとした手術だという作り話を信じている人もいるが、手術時間は極めて長く、６～８時間にも及ぶ」と述べた。
　「局所麻酔を多用し、時間をかけて投与する。何をすべきかという知識がない人が行うには危険な施術だ」
　インドの国家医療委員会（ＮＭＣ）は９月、基準に満たないサービスを割安な価格で提供する診療所の急増を受け、警鐘を鳴らした。
　ＮＭＣは「ユーチューブなどでワークショップを見ても、植毛手術のような美容外科手術を行う訓練とはならない」と指摘。植毛手術を行うのは、適切な訓練を受けた医師に限るべきだと述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/12/19-15:47）

All that balding Indian television executive Athar Rasheed wanted was to look handsome and get married. But the 30-year-old's seemingly harmless hair transplant went fatally wrong.
Women have been judged on their appearance for millennia, but in an increasingly materialistic Indian society, men are also feeling pressure to look young and presentable for fear of losing their social standing.
More and more prematurely balding men are opting for hair transplants as disposable incomes rise and an emphasis on personal appearance becomes stronger.
But in a weakly regulated sector, the procedure -- sometimes performed by amateurs self-trained on YouTube -- can have deadly results.
Rasheed was the sole breadwinner for his family and aspired to a better life -- owning a house and getting his two sisters married.
But he developed sepsis after undergoing a hair transplant at a clinic in Delhi last year, his distraught mother Asiya Begum, 62, told AFP.
The swelling spread from his head and he suffered terrible agonies.
My son died a very painful death. His kidneys stopped functioning and then all his other organs collapsed, she said, breaking down.
Armed with photographs showing Rasheed's bloated face and black rashes that broke out all over his body in his final hours, the family lodged a police complaint.
Four people, including the two men who performed the surgery, have been arrested and are awaiting trial.
I remember my son every day and die a slow death, she said, sitting in her modest one-room rented flat in a rundown neighbourhood of the capital.
I lost my son but I don't want any other mother to lose their child because of fraudulent practices of a few people, she said.
- Confidence booster -
When performed by a skilled surgeon, a hair transplant can be a life-changing and confidence-boosting experience, especially for young Indian men looking for personal and professional growth.
Harish Iyer, a social commentator and equal rights activist, said men have started focusing more on their grooming as lifestyles change.
The need to exhibit youth and vitality is echoed by all genders, Iyer told AFP.
The pressure was always on women to look a certain way and find acceptance, but the needle is now changing.
But at the same time, specialists say increasingly sedentary lifestyles, smoking, improper diet and stress can result in early hair loss.
A hair transplantation procedure involves removing follicles from a dense area of hair, such as the back of the head, and then implanting them on the affected area of the scalp.
Doctor Mayank Singh performs up to 15 surgeries a month at his upscale clinic in a posh New Delhi neighbourhood.
Most of his patients are aged 25 to 35 and looking to either get married or climb the professional ladder, especially in jobs where appearances matter.
The procedure costs some 350,000 rupees ($4,300), a considerable sum in a country where millions live on less than two dollars a day.
Seedy clinics manned by untrained personnel perform the surgery at a fraction of the cost.
- YouTube workshops -
Singh, who is also the secretary of the Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons of India, said quacks were bringing the industry a bad name.
People have this myth that this is a minor procedure, whereas the duration of the surgery is pretty long, running into some six to eight hours, said Singh.
It involves a lot of local anaesthesia that has to be administered over time. If someone does not have the knowledge about what we need to do, then it can become an unsafe procedure.
Alarmed by the mushrooming number of clinics offering often subpar service at discounted prices, India's National Medical Commission issued a warning in September.
Watching in workshops or on YouTube or similar platforms is not adequate training to start aesthetic procedures including hair transplantation, it said.
Only properly trained doctors should perform such procedures, it added.
Singh, a plastic surgeon, said it was imperative that the guidelines were strictly adhered to.
He has a long list of happy customers, including doctor Lakshmi Narayanan, who for years avoided going to social gatherings because of his baldness.
My hair loss started when I was just 18. I used to avoid taking pictures of myself or even looking in the mirror, Narayanan, now 29, told AFP.
But not anymore. I can interact confidently with people now and I am looking for a life partner.