Call for Regulation of Sunbed Use

The Melanoma Foundation has joined with other key organisations in a call for the government to act to regulate the indoor tanning industry. The evidence about the dangers of sunbed use, especially by young people, has been amassing in recent years and can no longer be ignored.

We call on the New Zealand government to follow the World Health Organisation's guidelines which include:

• Banning access to sunbeds for those under the age of 18
• Banning unsupervised use of sunbeds

The full statement is below:

Thursday, March 10, 2011
Call for government action on sunbeds

1. Exposure to UV radiation from sunbeds significantly increases the risk of melanoma.
2. Currently there are no regulations governing sunbed use in New Zealand, unlike in Australia, the United Kingdom and many parts of Europe and other OECD countries.
3. New Zealand needs to protect its young people from the harms of sunbed use.
4. We call on the New Zealand government to follow the World Health Organization’s guidelines, which include banning:
   

a. access to sunbeds for those under the age of 18 years
b. unsupervised operations.

Organisations that support this statement include:

• Cancer Society of New Zealand - www.cancernz.org.nz
  
• Cancer Society Social and Behavioural Unit, University of Otago –
  http://dnmeds.otago.ac.nz/departments/psm/research/sbru/index.html
  
• Consumer NZ - www.consumer.org.nz
  
• Melanoma Foundation of New Zealand – www.melanoma.org.nz
  
• MelNet – www.melanoma.org.nz/melnet
  
• New Zealand Dermatological Society Incorporated - www.dermnetnz.org

For a summary of current evidence about the dangers of sunbed use, especially by young people, and the need for regulation click here.