\n<\/p>\n
Sunbeds are so dangerous they should be banned in the UK, cancer experts and campaigners say.<\/p>\n
They have urged ministers to order the closure of the thousands of tanning salons operating across Britain, using public funds to compensate owners if necessary.<\/p>\n
Commercial sunbeds play such a damaging role in causing skin cancer, and a ban on under-18s using them is so widely flouted, that an outright ban is justified, they argue in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).<\/p>\n
\u201cAn immediate outright ban on commercial sunbeds alongside public education offers the most cost-effective solution to reduce skin cancer, save lives and ease the burden on the NHS,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n
The call comes from experts at the Christie cancer hospital in Manchester, including Prof Paul Lorigan, campaigners from the British charity Melanoma Focus and a skin cancer specialist in Australia whose work helped persuade its government to ban sunbeds in 2016.<\/p>\n
Tanning is experiencing a boom in popularity, especially among generation Z, with sunbeds even being promoted \u2013 to doctors\u2019 dismay \u2013 as an important element of wellness.<\/p>\n
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), declared in 2009 that exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunbeds is carcinogenic to humans because it causes melanoma and other forms of skin cancer.<\/p>\n
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, with 17,600 new diagnoses and 2,700 deaths a year. Rates of the disease have risen and are projected to increase further by 2040, linked to people holidaying in sunny countries.<\/p>\n
IARC\u2019s view, and a report that year by the UK\u2019s Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (Comare), led the government to outlaw the use of sunbeds for under-18s in England and Wales.<\/p>\n
However, regulation of tanning salons has failed because a sizeable minority of 16- and 17-year-olds still use them, the co-authors of an opinion article wrote in the BMJ.<\/p>\n
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) backed the closure of tanning salons. The co-authors estimate it would cost between \u00a311m and \u00a355m. Last year there were an estimated 4,231 salons in England and 232 in Wales. The number in Scotland and Northern Ireland was unknown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a well-known fact that sunbeds increase the risk of skin cancer and there are safer alternatives like fake tan. That\u2019s why phasing out sunbeds would help reduce cancer risk and support people to live longer, healthier lives,\u201d <\/em>said <\/em>Kate Oldridge-Turner, WCRF\u2019s head of policy and public affairs.<\/p>\n But while Cancer Research UK warned people not to use sunbeds, it did not endorse the call.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite what people might hear on social media, there is no such thing as safe tanning using sunbeds. It\u2019s illegal to allow anyone under the age of 18 to use sunbeds, and it\u2019s vital that this is properly enforced,\u201d said Fiona Osgun, its head of health information.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people are more at risk of skin cancer than others, including those with lighter skin tones, lots of freckles or moles, or a history of burning easily.<\/p>\n \u201cBut everyone who uses sunbeds increases their risk of cancer. Nearly nine in 10 cases of melanoma are caused by exposure to too much UV radiation from the sun and sunbeds.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to look tanned, it\u2019s much safer to get a spray tan or use fake tan from a bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n The government urged people not to use sunbeds and said it was considering further steps to tackle the harm they cause.<\/p>\n \u201cCommercial sunbeds significantly increase the risk of melanoma and other skin cancers from UV radiation. It is strongly advised not to use them at all,\u201d a government spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone considering using a sunbed should understand the serious health risks. We are looking at the evidence and considering next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunbeds are so dangerous they should be banned in the UK, cancer experts and campaigners say. They have urged ministers to order the closure of the thousands of tanning salons operating across Britain, using public funds to compensate owners if necessary. Commercial sunbeds play such a damaging role in causing skin cancer, and a ban<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[1653,654,320,2411,15275],"class_list":{"0":"post-25262","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-banned","9":"tag-cancer","10":"tag-experts","11":"tag-skin","12":"tag-sunbeds"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}