Do you support the proposed legislation to prohibit sunbed usage by persons below the age of 18 years ?

If so, why not participate in the Public Consultation on Legislation to Control the Use of Sun Beds
Department of Health and Children. The deadline is 5:30 pm on Friday 13th June, 2008.
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6% of people aged 15 years+ in Ireland admit to using sunbeds

The Irish Cancer Society launched its annual SunSmart campaign by revealing results of a national survey of 1,000 people aged 15 years+ on sunbed usage. The key finding from the survey showed that 6% (209,000) of people admit to using sunbeds and 2% of users (19,000) say they use them once a week.

Commenting on the results of this survey, Dr Patrick Ormond, Consultant Dermatologist, St James’s Hospital, Dublin 8 said:

“The results of this survey are alarming as is the increased availability of sunbeds and the completely unregulated access to them in a wide variety of venues. 
The results show that people just don’t understand that a sunbed tan is induced through concentrated exposure to high levels of UV light and all forms of UV light contribute to skin cancer. The most worrying trend we are seeing is the number of young people regularly using sunbeds. Skin cancer risk increases with age so all these users are putting themselves at risk of developing skin cancer in later years through their sunbed usage.”

Other key results from this 2007 survey on sunbed usage showed that;

• 20% of users (41,000 people) use sunbeds once a month and 9% of users (18,000 people) use them twice a month;
• 69% of users say they use sunbeds in a beauty salon, 28% use them in a gym/leisure centre and 9% of sunbed users are using them at home;
• 10% of sunbed users are using them, totally unsupervised, in a coin operated venue.

Overall the findings of this 2007 concur with similar research conducted by the Irish Cancer Society in 2005 and show that national usage of sunbeds is still very high and the trends with regard to the frequency and initiation of usage at a relatively young age are also very high.

Norma Cronin, Health Promotion Manager:

“The Irish Cancer Society welcomes the proposal that sunbeds should be banned in those under 18 years of age, mirroring legislation that has already been enacted in  France, California and some parts of Australia. The Society will be making a submission to the public consultation process recommending that this legislation is comprehensive and legally binding and also offers adequate protection of all people over the age of 18 years who continue to use sunbeds. Ultimately the Society will lobby for an outright ban on sunbeds and 36% of respondents to our survey would support this.”

The latest data from the National Cancer Registry shows that there were over 6,800 new cases of skin cancer in 2005 (malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer). This type of tumour has the most rapid rise in incidence doubling every ten years and has a very high mortality rate if not detected early.