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Spink wants sunbed ban for under 18s

19 January 2010

Bob Spink MP called to protect our children from sunbeds when he met with Cancer Research UK representatives on Wednesday, January 13th in Parliament.

Bob discussed how children raise their risk of skin cancer in later life by using sunbeds – recently upgraded to a top class carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Cancer Research UK's recently commissioned survey found that in Liverpool and Sunderland half of all 15-17 year old girls have used sunbeds. Even more shocking is that more than a quarter of a million children aged 11-17 in the UK have used sunbeds.

Bob is supporting a new Private Member's Bill to ensure that children are no longer able to put their health at risk in this way.

Bob said: "I was very shocked to hear how dangerous sunbeds can be to children's health – and how many under 18s seem to be using them. We must act to prevent young people having access to sunbeds. And I will be giving my full support to this Bill.

"Cancer Research UK found that 87 per cent of the public want a law to stop under 18s using sunbeds and 90 per cent support sunbed salons being staffed."

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: "In Scotland under 18s are now banned from using sunbeds. But this is not the case in England and Wales. Cancer Research UK is deeply concerned about how easy it is for a very large number of youngsters, particularly girls, to use sunbeds and there is strong evidence linking sunbed use with skin cancer .

"In the UK the number of people diagnosed with skin cancer is rising faster than any other cancer. And we believe that getting a law passed in Parliament to protect young people and teenagers from the dangers of sunbeds is crucial to help buck this worrying trend."

According to Cancer Research UK using sunbeds for the first time under the age of 35 increases the risk of the most dangerous form of skin cancer by 75 per cent.