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Call to ban under 18s sunbed use MSPs welcome under-18 sunbed ban
(about 23 hours later)
A Labour MSP has called for new public health laws to include a ban on under 18s using sunbeds. Plans to tackle Scotland's "skin cancer epidemic" by banning under-18s from using sunbeds have been welcomed.
East Renfrewshire MSP Ken Macintosh will also call for coin-operated sunbeds to be outlawed, when he appears before the Holyrood's Health Committee. The proposals, put forward by Labour MSP Ken Macintosh, would also make coin-operated sunbeds illegal.
He had originally put forward his proposals in a member's bill. The Sunbed Association, which represents about a fifth of UK sunbed parlour operators, said none of its members ran unsupervised beds.
However, Mr Macintosh said the Scottish Government had now agreed to support his measures as part of the Public Health Bill. The restrictions could form part of the Scottish Government's plan to update public health protection laws.
"Scotland and the Scottish Parliament has the opportunity once more to lead the way in tackling cancer," he said. Mr Macintosh told Holyrood's Health Committee, which is considering his safeguards, that they were not about banning sunbeds, but better informing the public of the danger that they could kill.
"Fair skinned Scots are amongst those most at risk from skin cancer and young people are even more vulnerable to suffering from the deadly consequences of tanning in later years. Responsible operators
"We try to protect our children from the dangers of smoking and from alcohol but it is about time we did more to highlight the risks posed by tanning and sunbeds." The East Renfrewshire MSP said sunbed use caused an estimated 100 skin cancer deaths in the UK annually, adding: "Scotland is in the grip of what many health commentators have described as a skin cancer epidemic.
As well as wanting a ban on the unsupervised use of sunbeds and outlawing their use by under 18s, Mr Macintosh wants all operators to have to provide information on the dangers of sunbed use. "Skin cancer has more than trebled over the last 30 years and there's a very straightforward reason for this and that is the rise in the popularity in tanning."
Members of the committee will also get the chance to question Kathy Banks of the Sunbed Association, and others. "I want us to avoid paying the price 20 years from now."
The Sunbed Association's Kathy Banks told MSPs that members of the body had signed up to a code of conduct to help ensure safety.
MSPs will be asked to vote on the sunbed proposals, which have received broad political backing, at a later date.
The regime would also would also require sunbed operators to advise customers of the dangers.