“I used sunbeds when I was younger and now I’m paying the price living with stage 4 melanoma”

The newly launched Coalition Against Sunbeds has called for a total ban on sunbeds, which directly cause 5% of all melanoma skin cancers in Ireland.

Banning sunbeds would help to save lives by decreasing risk factors for melanoma and also save the taxpayer an estimated €9.7 million per year in costly treatments, according to the coalition. Sunbed use dramatically increases a person’s risk of developing melanoma. The risk is increased by 75% for people who use sunbeds before the age of 35.

The number of people who will be diagnosed with melanoma is set to double by 2045. Approximately 120,000 people in Ireland use sunbeds. 1 in 20 children aged 10-17 have used sunbeds, despite legislation prohibiting their use by young people under 18.

The Coalition Against Sunbeds’ members include the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Skin Foundation, Melanoma Support Ireland, the Irish Association of Dermatologists, Breakthrough Cancer Research, the Marie Keating Foundation and others.  The Programme for Government committed to exploring the feasibility of a sunbed ban, and the Department of Health’s Sunbed Working Group subsequently recommended such a ban.  The Coalition welcomes this recommendation and is calling for a total ban of all sunbeds, including those in a residential setting, not just commercial sunbeds.

Professor Anne-Marie Tobin, Consultant Dermatologist in Tallaght University Hospital, said:

“The link between sunbeds and skin cancer is clear. The WHO categorises sunbeds as a Group 1 carcinogen meaning their cancer risk is the same as tobacco and asbestos exposure.

 “5.4% of melanomas, the most serious and dangerous form of skin cancer, are directly linked to sunbed use. This means over 70 people are diagnosed with melanoma in Ireland each year due to sunbeds. Depending on the staging of their diagnosis, these cancers could cost the taxpayer up €9.7 million to treat.

“The time has come to act and to ban sunbeds. That is why the Coalition Against Sunbeds has launched today and is urgently calling for Government to set out a timeline for when it will introduce a blanket ban.”

Gill Costelloe, patient advocate with Melanoma Support Ireland said:

“I used sunbeds when I was younger and now I’m paying the price because I’m living with stage 4 melanoma, which is a terminal cancer. My melanoma was caught early when I had a mole surgically removed but, five years later, it came back without any warning and spread right through my body, nearly killing me.

“Thankfully I’m doing a lot better 4 years on, but I will now be on cancer treatment for the rest of my life. Some day that treatment may stop working and I have to live with that at the back of my mind every single day.

“There was very little education when I was younger about the dangers of sunbeds, but we now know that they are very harmful. I fully support the Coalition Against Sunbeds because we know what damage sunbeds do and we simply cannot sit and watch any more people die from using sunbeds. We need to follow suit of the likes of Australia, who have reduced the potential number of melanoma cases and fatalities by banning commercial sunbeds.”