Under-18s to be banned from using sunbeds to cut cancer risk
• Legislation planned after voluntary action by industry fails• Studies show worrying levels of sunbed use by young peopleUnder-18s will be banned from visiting sunbed salons in a move by the government to reduce the risk of young people developing skin cancer.Gillian Merron, the public health minister, said that voluntary action by the sunbed industry to stop children had failed and that ministers planned to introduce legislation to tackle the problem.The proposed ban comes as research reported in today's British Medical Journal shows that more than 250,000 children aged 11-17 in England are thought to use sunbeds. It shows that up to half of all girls aged 15-17 in some areas undergo artificial tanning, which experts warn seriously increases the risk of malignant melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer.Two studies of children's tanning habits highlighted in the BMJ, which were government-funded and commissioned by Cancer Research UK (CRUK),...
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