Heat turned up on unstaffed sunbeds

Published on Thursday 25 June 2009 00:13

THE Scottish Government served notice yesterday that the days of unsupervised sunbeds in Scotland are numbered.

Health minister Shona Robison boasted Scotland would be leading the way in public health by banning unstaffed sunbeds.

She made her claim as she launched the consultation into a new bill aimed at controlling the use of sunbeds, due to go before MSPs in December.

The move comes amid alarm at the increasing rate of skin cancer in Scotland, which has been partly put down to the use of sunbeds.

If passed it would mean that unstaffed tanning salons would be banned and under-18s would no longer be allowed to use them.

The legislation will appear in the Public Health Act and it will require operators to provide users with information about the health risks of using sunbeds and to display warnings on their premises.

The Scottish Government consultation asks what should be included in such warnings.

Ms Robison said: "Skin cancer is on the rise in Scotland and we must do all we can to tackle this and protect the public, particularly young people.

"Sunbeds damage your health and I am proud that Scotland is leading the way in the UK on this issue.

"Already we have passed legislation on the use, hire and sale of sunbeds."

Figures supplied by the Health and Safety Executive estimate more than 100 deaths from skin cancer every year in the UK are believed to be linked to the use of sunbeds.

Earlier this year, Cancer Research UK unveiled its SunSmart initiative claiming that sunbeds were the main cause of melanomas for women in their 20s. The charity accused some people of "binge tanning" and brought out celebrity support from former TV presenter and actress Denise van Outen.

She claimed that she was scarred by using sunbeds too much in her teens and 20s.

However, this has always been challenged by the Sunbed Association which has insisted there was no provable link between cancer and the "responsible" use of sunbeds. But the association has supported calls for a ban on unmanned sunbeds.

It does have a difference of opinion on the minimum age, with the association preferring a ban for under-16s instead of under-18s.

The issue was originally pushed in Holyrood by Labour East Renfrewshire MSP Ken Macintosh who brought forward a members bill to limit their use.

Regulations brought in last year by the Scottish Government as a response have not been enough to dampen concerns about the issue.

One problem that was tackled in the previous Public Health Bill was that sunbeds were not registered and only 20 per cent of operators belonged to the trade body.

MEN AND TEENS DON'T COVER UP

MEN are twice as likely as women not to protect their skin in the sun, research showed yesterday.

A survey of 1,213 adults found that 10 per cent of people took no protective measures at all.

Men were twice as likely not to use sunscreen as women – 14 per cent, compared with 7 per cent of women.

The survey also found that people in their teens and early 20s were less likely than any other age group to use sun protection, despite increasing numbers of melanoma being diagnosed in this age group.

The research by the Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey is to be presented at the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) annual conference taking place in Glasgow next month.

Nina Goad, from BAD, said: "Sunscreen seems to be the preferred way of protecting the skin, but it seems that many people may be forgetting to cover up and seek shade in the sun."

More than 2,300 people die from skin cancer each year in the UK.