Australia leads the world in decline in skin cancer

Australia has emerged as the first country in the world to show an improvement in skin cancer rates, with a small reduction in levels of melanoma and non-melanoma in the under-45 age group.

Launching a new CSIRO publication Sun, Skin and Health, the first extensive Australian book on the prevention of skin cancer, Cancer Council Australia Committee Chair Terry Slevin explained that the reduction showed that public health messages like ‘slip, slop, slap’ were working.

The evidence-based guide uses Medicare data to show that between 2000 and 2011, there was a 2% reduction in skin cancer treatments in the 25 to 34-year-old age group and a 1% reduction in the 35-44 year-old age group.

Slevin, Chair of the Council’s Occupational and Environmental Cancer Risk Committee, stated “people age 45 and under grew up with sun-smart messages and the ‘slip, slop, slap’ campaign, messages which influenced the policy environment.

“But for people in their 50s and above, we’re seeing a 6% increase in skin cancer as a result of their high exposure to the sun. Unfortunately it was a population who used coconut oil and actively sought a tan.”

The publciation also dispels myths about skin cancer and sun protection, including the misguided beliefs that using sun protection leads to vitamin D deficiency, and that sunscreen is not safe and contains harmful ingredients such as nanoparticles.

Vitamin D deficiency is a legitimate concern for people who rarely see the sun, or for those who cover up for cultural reasons, but people in the southern parts of Australia make enough vitamin D from September to April without overexposing our skin to UV, the publication explains.

And there has been no reliable evidence to suggest concentrations of nanoparticles found in sunscreen products are harmful.

The latest available Cancer Council Australia data shows that in 2010, 11,405 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in Australia, accounting for nearly one in 10 cancer diagnoses. It is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in Australian men and 10th most common in Australian women.

Sun, Skin and Health is available through CSIRO publishing.

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