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Italy is to introduce legislation that will make it illegal for girls under 18 to have breast enhancement or other plastic surgery.

Officials want to prevent problems with botched operations or sub standard silicon implants. Francesca Martini, an undersecretary within Italy’s welfare ministry, said the government wanted an official register of surgeons qualified to perform plastic surgery drawn up.

She said: “This legislation is primarily aimed at the growing number of girls under 18 who have breast enhancement surgery purely for fashion reasons and have no idea of the risks involved.

“Far too many adolescent girls are unaware of the fact that there are risks with this type of surgery and it should not be used purely for fashion and looks. At the moment we have a Wild West, cowboy style system of plastic surgery for young women and this must stop.”

Francesco D’Andrea, of the Italian Society of Plastic Surgeons, said that they are in favor of the legislation since too many people carry out plastic surgery without the proper qualifications.

“Banning under 18’s from having the surgery is also a good idea because these girls are just too young to be operated on. Some surgeons have no idea what they are doing and create huge risks,” D’Andrea added.

Statistics revealed that there are around 85,000 breast enhancement operations a year in Italy, of which 70 percent are for aesthetic reasons and 30 percent follow cancer treatment.