ABC NEWS Cancer Council Calls for Tanning Bed Crackdown

[frankie]

Posted Mon Oct 6, 2008 7:24am AEDT
Updated Mon Oct 6, 2008 7:23am AEDT

The Cancer Council says new research suggesting tanning beds might be linked to 43 deaths in Australia every year, backs up the case for tougher regulation of the industry.

A team at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research has used a British mathematical model to estimate the number of skin cancers that are linked to the use of sun beds.

It found there were 281 cases a year, with 43 melanoma-related deaths attributed to tanning beds.

Cancer Council chief Ian Olver says it is time for national regulations that ban or strictly limit access to tanning beds, especially for people under 18 and those with fair skin.

"These are the people that should be warned that it's particularly dangerously and they're the people that should be stopped using them," he said.

Professor Olver says while the plight of Melbourne woman Claire Oliver has helped highlight the risks, governments need to better promote the dangers of tanning beds.

He says while there has been recent state-by-state regulations dealing with sun beds, that has been too patchy.

"I think this provides evidence for why she should regulate far more rigorously this whole sun bed industry and this research has also calculated that if we do that it would save the health care budget about $3 million."

In August 2007 Ms Oliver appeared on ABC1's The 7.30 Report to warn about the dangers of solariums. She died the following month.