Sunbeds are as carcinogenic as tobacco

I am calling on the Minister for Health James Reilly to give an update on the status of the Public Health (Sunbeds) Bill which is aimed at regulating sunbed use particularly for those under the age of 18.According to the Irish Cancer Society this life saving legislation has been delayed.

I have written to the Minister before on this specific issue and I received assurance that action was being taken on The Public Health (Sunbeds) Bill.

In the response I received, the Minister stated that the drafting of this legislation was expected to be completed in late 2012. The Bill, when drafted, will need to be notified to the EU Commission under the Technical Standards Directive prior to its publication.

I am extremely worried that this Bill is being put off, it is expected to have extremely important components which need to be put into place as soon as possible.

For instance, the Bill should prohibit sunbed use for all children under the age of 18, currently children are putting themselves at real risk by using these beds.

Other crucial measures which should be contained in the Bill include banning the sale of sunbeds to people under 18, training for staff who work with sunbeds and the obligation for premises to place warning labels on sunbeds.

The Irish Cancer Society has warned that the risk of potentially deadly mel-anoma increases significantly when people began tanning on sunbeds regularly before the age of 35.

Shockingly, it is estimated that one in five of the 140,000 sunbed users in Ireland are aged between 15 and 24 so we do know that young people are using them in their droves.

People who use sunbeds are 20% more likely to develop skin cancer. The Irish Cancer Society published stark figures, in 2010,  9,450 people were diagnosed with skin cancer in Ireland, and of these 896 were diagnosed with melanoma.

These worrying figures illustrate how it is essential that the government tackles the issue of sunbed use which at the moment is virtually operating unregulated.

Many people may not be aware of the significant health dangers that go hand in hand with the frequent use of sunbeds, parents in particular need to be vigilant.

It is my view that there should also be restrictions imposed on how frequently a person can use sunbeds in a period of time and sunbed use should not be allowed for those with fair skin who are most at risk of developing melanoma or skin cancer.

I have written to the Minister for Health James Reilly again to obtain an answer on what stage the Bill is at and when we are likely to see the restriction of sunbed use in Ireland.