Time to stop cashing in on sunbeds

0 Comments | Daily Post; Liverpool (UK), Sep 28, 2009 | by Anonymous

The horror stories associated with sunbed use have in recent years become a lot more prevalent. Serious burns, scarring and the chance of developing skin cancer may put off some but for others the quest for the perfect bronzed tone is worth the risk.

Each year in the UK 2,000 people die from skin cancer - with sunbeds blamed for 100 of these.

Proprietors allowing sun beds to be misused, whether it be by people underage, or those spending excessive time on the facilities, have been pilloried.

When the operator of the tanning beds is a county council then much starker questions must be asked.

Wrexham and Flintshire are the only two councils in Wales that still operate sunbeds, with Wrexham having generated more than pounds 80,000 in the last five years from the facilities.

They have now pledged to remove all their tanning beds by Aril 2010 - a positive move, if one that will leave their coffers a little lighter.

The argument of revenue generation over public health, however, is one that must go way beyond the bean counters in county hall.

Council bodies have an obligation to protect the public and with the research showing the far reaching dangers of sunbed use, their presence in our leisure and sports centres really is not suitable.

Sunbeds, like the sun's rays, fire UV rays at the user, with untold, irreparable damage to the skin. Some machines can give off rays 10-15 times more powerful than the midday sun.

According to research using sunbeds for the first time before the age of 35 increases your risk of developing melanoma skin cancer by 75%.

They are not a safe alternative to tanning outdoors and should not be encouraged for general use.

The only truly safe way is getting your tan out of a bottle.

So the financial gain these products may have for our council must not be superseded by the good of the public health.

And the bill the NHS could foot in dealing with skin cancer cases is surely greater than the revenue generated for our councils.