Real stories about skin cancer and skin damage - SunSmart

Worksheet G
Solarium regulation – newspaper article
Article from: The Sun-Herald, 26 August 2007, p 24.
Solarium scare
Cancer claim prompts push for regulation
by MICHELLE SINGER
THE tanning industry has
welcomed the Federal Government’s
decision to push for stronger rules
around solarium use.
Health Minister Tony Abbott
has asked State and Territory
governments to consider uniform
national rules for tanning salon
operators.
The Australian Solarium
Association, which represents about
50 members nationally, said the
regulations are overdue.
A call for tighter rules comes
after 26-year-old Clare Oliver spoke
publicly last week about her belief
that excessive solarium use led to her
developing a deadly melanoma.
Ms Oliver, from Melbourne,
is dying from skin cancer and has
dedicated her last days to warning the
public about the dangers of tanning.
The Victorian Government has
already toughened regulations for
solarium operators, who will be fined
for breaching the legislation.
On Friday, Mr Abbott said most
states had no regulation at all.
Ms Oliver, who turned 26
yesterday, was a regular solarium
user before being diagnosed with
melanoma four years ago. Cancer
has now spread to other parts of her
body.
Solarium association spokesman
Patrick Holly said its members had
their own operating standards.
They say that children under
15 are not permitted and clients
are advised to avoid exposure to
ultraviolet rays within 48 hours of a
session.
Mr Holly said Cancer Council
research in 2005 found that fewer
than 60 per cent of operators
complied with those standards.
“We’ve been asking for
regulations for about a year now,” Mr
Holly said.
“In 2005 we tried to self-regulate
the industry, especially in NSW, and
we made guidelines for solarium
operators available. We are still part
of a working group, along with the
Cancer Council and Health NSW,
and we are looking at ways to
legislate solarium operators.”
Melanoma is the most common
form of cancer among 15 to 30 year
olds.
46
Cancer Council Australia chief
executive Ian Olver confirmed the
industry’s voluntary safety code was
not working.
He said the proliferation of
solariums without reasonable safety
controls was a serious public health
issue.
“In a nation that has for many
years had the world’s highest skin
cancer incidence and mortality
rates, it is unacceptable that we
significantly increase our risk of a
potentially deadly disease through
artificial means in an unregulated
environment,” he said.
Mr Holly said a level of federal
regulation was needed to allow
businesses that did not adhere to the
guidelines to be punished.
“It’s a very emotive issue, there’s
a young girl dying from melanoma.
She has the right to question why and
how,” he said.
“The emotive issue at the
moment is whether solarium use
is the only cancer causing problem
and will the incidence of melanoma
decrease from the regulation of the
industry?”