Media advisory — Parliamentary Committee on the issue of skin cancer and artificial tanning

QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 20, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) will present its brief on artificial UV rays and the artificial tanning industry before the Committee on Health and Social Services this afternoon, February 20, at 2:30 p.m.

Appearing will be Mélanie Champagne and Jean-Daniel Hamelin, respectively Policy Analyst in charge of the UV campaign and Director of Public Affairs for CCS - Québec Division. They will be accompanied by two young women who were both regular clients of tanning salons during their adolescence and who are victims of skin cancer.

This delegation will explain to the members of the National Assembly the CCS's position on the unregulated sale of artificial tanning services, will communicate its concerns about the use of tanning equipment, and will show the high risks of skin cancer inherent in this practice.

The Committee on Health and Social Services decided to study the issue of artificial tanning following the tabling of a CCS petition last fall. Some 60,000 signatures were tabled by 34 MNAs at that time. During its appearance before the committee, the CCS will also have in hand letters of support from 65 groups, representing more than 500 community and health sector organizations.

Today, the signatories, the CCS and its allies (including the Association des dermatologistes du Québec and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec) will urge the government:

1. To prohibit the sale of artificial tanning services to youth under age 18.
2. To set up a Quebec register of businesses that provide artificial tanning services, so as to facilitate inspection work and enforce the law.
3. To restrict the marketing practices of tanning salons by prohibiting practices that target young people: discount coupons in school agendas, prom-night promotions, etc.

Mélanie Champagne and the two young skin cancer survivors will be available for interviews on Monday starting at 3 p.m. (following their presentation, in the Louis-Joseph Papineau room). The CCS brief will be available upon request as of 3 p.m.

Artificial tanning = beauty or cancer?

• Exposure to artificial tanning before the age of 35 increases the risk of developing a melanoma by 75%.
• Three-quarters of the cases of melanoma diagnosed in 18- to 29-year-olds among clients of tanning salons are attributable to the use of tanning beds.
• The UV rays from tanning beds are 5 to 15 times stronger than the noon sun.

Tanning salon marketing targets young women in particular

• Women, primarily between the ages of 16 and 29, make up 70% of tanning salon clients.
• 250,000 young Quebecers under the age of 30 went to a tanning salon last year, on average once a month.

André Beaulieu, Senior Advisor, Public Relations
Canadian Cancer Society - Québec Division
[email protected] | 514 393-3444

Jean-Daniel Hamelin, Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Cancer Society - Québec Division
[email protected] | 514 608-5228