British Medical Association Cymru Wales Backs Private Members Bill To Regulate Suntan Salons

Welsh Secretary of the BMA, Dr Richard Lewis said: “We are delighted that Julie Morgan MP has chosen to use her Private Members Bill to close a loophole in law to protect the publicparticularly young peoplefrom the dangers of sunbeds and from over-exposure to intense UV radiation.

“This is something we have campaigned heavily on this year in Walescalling for tighter regulation of the commercial sunbed industry; particularly for a ban on coin-operated / unsupervised salons and a ban on the use by under 18s.

“There are significant health risks associated with the use of sunbeds. The link between exposure to UV radiation and skin cancer is now indisputableshown by the recent decision by the International Agency for Research on Cancer to raise the sunbed classification to “carcinogenic to humans”the highest risk category.

“For us the essential point is that there is no such thing as a safe tan (unless it comes out of a bottle). The damage to your skin remains long after a tan has faded.

“There are no formal guidelines about standards of private sector tanning salons, the ones which do exist are only advisory and providers are free to ignore them. Anyone can decide to set up a tanning salon, and they need no training or qualifications.

“We really need to educate people about the dangers of sunbeds and counter the myths about tanning. A suntan is not a sign of good health; a tan, even when there is no burning, always means that the skin has been damaged, a suntan is not nature’s own sunscreenit does not protect you from ultra-violet radiation.

“It’s ironic, people use sunbeds because they think they’ll look better and yet they will probably end up looking old prematurely and possibly getting skin cancer.”There is no such thing as a safe tan (unless it comes out of a bottle). When a tan fades, the damage to your skin remains. We want to see tighter regulation of the sunbed industry and a ban on coin-operated, unsupervised salons.

“In 2009, there is no excuse for such lax regulation. When we gave evidence to the National Assembly for Wale’s Health Committee inquiry a few months ago that is exactly what we saidwe are delighted that the Committee took our recommendations forward, and now we are even more delighted that Julie Morgan MP’s Private Members Bill could close this gap in public protection on a UK level for good. We will do everything we can to support her. “

Source
The British Medical Association Cymru Wales

source : www.medicalnewstoday.com

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