Plans to eliminate illegal underage sunbed use has been announced by the Government in a bid to reduce melanoma skin cancer risks in teenagers.

New proposals under the National Cancer Plan will include a ban on unsupervised sessions and the introduction of mandatory ID checks to verify users are over 18.

The Department of Health and Social care said the move followed recent investigations which have shown that teenagers as young as 14 are gaining access to tanning salons, ‘routinely flouting the existing ban on under 18s using sunbeds’.

A consultation on the issue will launch in the spring and run for 12 weeks, with new rules coming into force as soon as next year.

When announcing the proposals, health minister Karin Smyth said: ‘Stronger protections on sunbeds are needed so people understand risks that could have deadly consequences.

‘The evidence is clear: there is no safe level of sunbed use, yet too many young people are being exposed to a known carcinogen with little understanding of the risks.’

She added that the proposals will ‘ensure the law is properly enforced’, noting that the Government will do ‘everything we can’ to protect people from avoidable cancers.

Melanoma cases on the rise

Polling from the charity Melanoma Focus shows that 25% of all adults in the UK have used a sunbed in their lifetime, rising to 43% among 18-to-25-year-olds. And while 62% of adults know that sunbed use increases cancer risk, nearly a quarter of 18-25-year-olds believe that sunbeds actually reduce their risk of cancer.

When it comes to 16-17 year olds, Susanna Daniels, chief executive officer of Melanoma Focus, said 34% of this age group in the UK use sunbeds despite them being illegal for under 18s.

She said the charity was ‘delighted that the Government was taking real steps to tackle the use of sunbeds by those under 18’, particularly as ‘the rates of melanoma in the UK have risen considerably.’

Indeed, data from Cancer Research UK shows that since the early 1990s, melanoma skin cancer incidence rates in the UK have increased by an average of 147% – 110% in females and 199% in males. Incidence rates are projected to increase by 9% between 2023-25 and 2038-40, with around 26,500 new cases each year by 2038-40.

The World Health Organization has classed sunbeds to be as dangerous to health as smoking, noting that using a sunbed before the age of 20 increases the risk of melanoma skin cancer by 47% when compared to those who have never used one.

Calls for complete ban on commercial sunbeds

Dr Tamara Griffiths, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, said the organisation welcomes the Government’s plans to tighten regulation of sunbeds, noting not only melanoma skin cancer and eye disease risks but the addictive nature of sunbed use, which can have a wider health impact.

She said: ‘Given these well-established risks, and the ongoing challenges in enforcing age restrictions effectively, we believe decisive action is needed. On balance, we would support a complete ban on commercial sunbeds in the UK as the most effective way to protect public health and prevent avoidable cases of skin cancer and eye disease.’

Australia banned commercial sunbeds in 2016 and Brazil in 2009.