PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Skin Cancer: Sunbeds (28 June 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to research from the University of Manchester entitled Cost-effectiveness of a policy-based intervention to reduce melanoma and other skin cancers associated with indoor tanning, published in February 2022, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of a public health campaign aiming to reduce sunbed use among young people.

Asked by:
Feryal Clark (Labour)

No specific assessment has been made. However, the Department and the UK Health Security Agency keep the emerging evidence on the health risks of sunbeds under review and health advice on the safety of sunbeds is available at NHS.UK.

In 2009, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment published ‘The health effects and risks arising from exposure to ultraviolet radiation from artificial tanning devices’, which reviewed the association between the use of sunbeds and skin cancer rates and the merits of introducing further regulations. The Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 banned the commercial use of sunbeds in people under the age of 18 years old.

Answered by:
James Morris (Conservative)
19 July 2022