Harney hopes for total sunbed ban

Health Minister Mary Harney has said she would like to see a total ban on sunbeds in Ireland to reduce the incidence of cancer.
 
The Minister was speaking at a global cancer summit in Dublin.
 
The Minister has asked the Department of Health if such a ban is possible, and stressed that EU approval would be required.
 
She asserted that even though there would be a significant reduction in health spending next year, cancer will be a priority.  
 
Sunbeds have recently been ranked alongside cigarettes, arsenic and asbestos as posing the greatest threat of cancer to humans.
 
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization, moved sunbeds to its highest cancer risk category in July and declared them “carcinogenic to humans”.

Using tanning beds could increase the risk of developing cancer by 75%, especially if used by children and young adults, a report from the IARC found.
 
For more on the global cancer summit currently taking place in Dublin, see here.

[Posted: Mon 24/08/2009]