HC Deb 30 November 1992 vol 215 c73W
Mr. Dafis

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans she has to issue detailed advice to the public on the maximum lengths of time people with sensitive skins should be exposed to direct sunlight;

(2) what material has been produced by her Department in each year since 1989 on the subject of skin cancer and the dangers of over-exposure to UVB.

Mr. Sackville

Advice on safe exposure to the sun has been included in a Health Education Authority leaflet "Are You Dying To Get A Sun Tan", and "Smart Cookies Don't Burn" produced by the pharmacy health care scheme. The chief medical officers also issued an information note to directors of public health in May 1992 which gave advice on avoidance of excessive exposure to the sun. As part of the "Health of the Nation" strategy the Department proposes to issue comprehensive guidance on skin cancer prevention in the new year. The Department will also discuss with the Health Education Authority a national public education campaign on exposure to sunlight and other sources of ultraviolet radiation. Other departmental initiatives include a review of protection standards for sun screens and sunglasses, the information available to users of sun-tanning equipment, and of research.

Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her reply of 19 October,Official Report, column 80, what evidence she has of changing patterns of exposure to sunlight since 1979; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Sackville

The Department was advised on the health effects of ultraviolet radiation by the expert Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment—COMARE—in June this year and I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester, North (Mr. Jenkin) on 1 July 1992 at columns637–39. COMARE's views that skin cancer risk is determined largely by patterns of exposure to existing levels of UVR was based on consideration of a number of peer reviewed reports published in the medical literature.

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