While their research indicates a high level of public support for the solarium ban in Australia, the authors of this study identify the need to monitor the tanning behaviours of previous users post-ban and their access to private sunbed use and other potentially dangerous methods of tanning (e.g. tanning injections).
Public investment in skin cancer prevention and early detection programmes show strong potential for health and economic benefits, according to authors of a study published recently in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention.
Sustained youth-focused Australian advertising campaigns (for adolescents and young adults), when broadcast with sufficient TARPs (target audience rating points) during the summer months, continue to provide consistent beneficial impact on sun protection behaviors population-wide, according to the authors of a recently published study.
In this article, Craig Sinclair and his co-authors highlight the role of incremental change as an effective pathway to securing more substantial changes in the longer term. They also highlighted that the changes in Australia [culminating in a total ban] “benefitted from a combination of strong, widely reported epidemiological evidence, the powerful personal stories of 2 people whose melanoma was associated with the use of tanning beds, media advocacy, and direct political representation by nongovernment agencies”.
Most skin cancers are preventable, and prevailing levels of sunscreen use probably reduced skin cancer incidence by 10-15% in Australia, according to a recently published study. The authors conclude that sunscreen should be a component of a comprehensive sun protection strategy.
This open-access publication provides evidence on the economic costs associated with skin cancer in New South Wales that is based upon based on the latest epidemiological and economic evidence. According to the authors, there are still large knowledge gaps in understanding the wider impact of skin cancer on society. This lack of data means that the study most likely under-estimates the true cost of skin cancer in that state.
A recent study has found a ‘surprisingly higher burden of mutations, higher than that of many tumours, according to an editorial summary of the study. As concluded by the study authors, “aged sun-exposed skin is a patchwork of thousands of evolving clones with over a quarter of cells carrying cancer-causing mutations while maintaining the physiological functions of epidermis”.
PHARMAC has today released the outcome of its clinical committees’ review of pembrolizumab (Keytruda). Based on their review of the available evidence the committees recommended pembrolizumab be funded and gave this recommendation a low priority. PHARMAC will continue working with the supplier to work towards a funding decision for this medicine.
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman announced today that public consultation has begun on proposals for additional protection from the use of commercial sunbeds in New Zealand. These proposals include licensing and training of operators.
Waikato teledermatology “proved an effective and acceptable approach to improving patient access to dermatologic services”, according to the results of a retrospective review of the first 12 months.