Seventy people a year in Ireland diagnosed with melanoma cancer due to sunbed use

Sunbeds are directly responsible for 5.4 per cent of all melanoma skin cancers in Ireland, according to a coalition of health organisations calling for a total ban on their use. Prof Anne-Marie Tobin, consultant dermatologist at Tallaght University Hospital, said some 70 people in the State are each year diagnosed with melanomas, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, due to sunbeds.“Depending on the staging of their diagnosis, these cancers could cost the taxpayer up to €9.7 million to treat,” she said on behalf of the Coalition Against Sunbeds.The group said the risk of developing melanoma is increased by 75 per cent for those who use sunbeds before the age of 35. Legislation prohibits sunbed use among under-18s, but the coalition said research indicated one in 20 children aged 10 to 17 had used the tanning machines. It said the number of people who will be diagnosed with melanoma is forecast to double by 2045.“I used sunbeds when I was younger and now I’m paying the price because I’m living with stage four melanoma, which is a terminal cancer,” said Gill Costelloe, a patient advocate with Melanoma Support Ireland. [ Sunbeds, melanoma and me: ‘I knew the risks but thought it could never happen’Opens in new window ]“My melanoma was caught early when I had a mole surgically removed but, five years later, it came back without any warning and spread right through my body, nearly killing me.”Costelloe said she is doing much better four years on from her diagnosis but will be receiving cancer treatment for the rest of her life. “Some day that treatment may stop working and I have to live with that at the back of my mind every single day.” Earlier this year, the Department of Health’s Sunbed Working Group assessed health evidence and recommended a blanket ban on commercial sunbeds in Ireland. Members of the coalition include the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Skin Foundation, Melanoma Support Ireland, the Irish Association of Dermatologists, the Irish College of GPs, Breakthrough Cancer Research, the Marie Keating Foundation and others.[ Men and women develop skin cancer in different parts of the bodyOpens in new window ]