'The action is clear': Micheál Martin backs ban on sunbeds over cancer risks
Of Sunbed Used In Out Last Of An The Ireland, With The More Who Year Had Part In Study, Its 10% Each Average 1,043 People Of A Took Largest In Than Eight A Kind Sessions
Sunbeds are as harmful as passive smoking and asbestos and should be banned, says Tánaiste Micheál Martin.
His comments come after a recent survey showed a significant proportion of the Irish population continue to use sunbeds despite knowing the health risks.
The research, from South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and University College Cork, found over 41% of people have used a sunbed, while some 10.6% of people had used a sunbed in the last year.
Reacting to the findings, Mr Martin told the he would support moves to outlaw the use of sunbeds. “I would (ban them), they are carcinogenic”.
He drew parallels with the smoking ban, which he was responsible for implementing during his time as health minister, and the existence of research on the health risks involved.
“I faced this fundamental moral question when we did the smoking ban many years ago," he said.
“When the report came back and said passive smoking was a carcinogen, it causes cancer, then the action had to be very clear in response.”
Ireland outlawed smoking in bars, restaurants and workplaces in 2004, and the State also took action to reduce the risks to the public from asbestos with two pieces of legislation in 2006 and 2010.
“It (sunbeds risks) is similar to asbestos. We had to deal with asbestos,” the Tánaiste said.
“If the evidence — and the evidence is very strong around sunbeds and cancer — then the action is clear,” he said.
The Irish Cancer Society has warned that using a sunbed increases your risk of developing melanoma cancer, the most serious skin cancer, by 20%.
Mr Martin said the next steps in terms of sunbeds must be taken based on medical evidence. “The action has to be banning that. It is injurious to the health of people. That is why I would support a ban very clearly,” he said.
He pointed out how a range of public health measures by successive governments have helped to improve people’s quality of life, or reduce illness and how these enacted.
Putting the smoking ban in place, for example, involved groups such as the Irish Cancer Society as well as government departments and a parliamentary committee on health.
Similarly, a sunbed ban would involve legislation and consultation with a range of stakeholders.
“I would have to work with the respective ministers and I don’t want to give specific timelines now. But I think a decision needs to be agreed in principle on that,” he said.
The research from South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and University College Cork was published in the earlier this month. It showed that Irish people continue to want to get a tan despite the risks involved.
The researchers found “an obvious disconnect” between what people believe and how they actually behave. Out of 1,043 people who took part in the study, the largest of its kind in Ireland, more than 10% had used a sunbed in the last year with an average of eight sessions each.
Co-author Catriona Gallagher said the high use of sun-beds is “horrifying”.
The dermatologist warned: “There’s this enduring appeal of a tan, it’s so deeply ingrained in society and I think it will just take time to change that.
“I think we need to get out there that tanning is dangerous. It doesn’t represent health, it represents skin damage.”
The study prompted calls from Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South West Christopher O’ Sullivan and Senator Tim Lombard for sunbeds to be banned in the wake of that same study.
The laws around sunbeds were last updated in 2014, which included banning their use in under-18s.