Issue
Skin cancer is one of the fastest growing diseases in the UK, with 70,000 new cases a year – double the figure of the early ‘80s. It is estimated that 2,000 people die of skin cancer each year. The CIEH believes that local authorities should play a more active role in skin cancer prevention.
What the CIEH is doing
The CIEH is urging local authorities to adopt active skin cancer prevention policies that include:
- Removing all sunbeds from local authority run leisure centres
- Providing sun awareness campaigns, in particular targeting children through parents and carers
- Providing shaded areas in school playgrounds
- Providing suitable sun protective clothing for outdoor employees
- Requiring shade provision as a condition of planning permission for new developments.
We have:
- Forged an alliance with Cancer Research UK to promote sun protection messages
- Launched a national and regional media campaign focusing on the need to remove sunbeds from local authority-run leisure centres
- Organised a national conference entitled Saving our Skins to raise awareness and assist EHPs in creating local skin cancer prevention campaigns
- Launched a Saving our Skins Toolkit designed to help professionals working in local authorities, primary care trusts, local health boards and cancer networks to develop strategies and campaign programmes to tackle the increasing incidence of skin cancer
- CIEH Wales supported a high profile skin cancer prevention campaign called Beat the Burn
Results
- Approximately 80 local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have removed sunbeds from their leisure centres
- Many local authorities have adopted comprehensive skin cancer prevention policies