Issues about solaria. In: Hill D, Elwood JM, English DR, editors. Prevention of Skin Cancer. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands; 2004. pp. 157-76. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-0511-0_9]

Mixed messages and a missed opportunity: Australian news media coverage of Clare Oliver's campaign against solaria

OBJECTIVE

To review television and print media coverage of the campaign to regulate solaria that was initiated by Clare Oliver before her death from melanoma in late 2007, and to investigate how the media constructed the aetiology of her disease.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Frame analysis of all direct and attributed statements about the causes of, and responsibility for, Oliver's melanoma, and about the legacy of her campaign, in report on five free-to-air Sydney television stations and in Australian capital city newspapers, 21 August 2007 to 20 February 2008.

RESULTS

26 television and 83 print media reports were identified, containing 279 statements on Oliver: 146 (52%) dealt with the responsibility of solaria or their need for regulation, 23 (8%) were on issues of self-responsibility, and 110 (40%) were on her legacy. Oliver stated she had visited solaria 10 times, but had spent years acquiring a tan outdoors. However, less than one in 10 statements about the aetiology of her melanoma referred to her outdoor tanning history, with most explaining the cause as solarium ultraviolet radiation. Oliver's campaign was credited with precipitating rapid regulation of solaria in Australia. However, the new regulations will not prevent a person of her age or skin type visiting solaria and fall well short of the ban she hoped for.

CONCLUSION

Unlike sun exposure, solaria are an entirely tractable factor contributing to melanoma. Failure to ban solaria has been a disappointment in a high-profile window of opportunity to change public health law.

Tanning Devices - Fast Track to Skin Cancer?

The use of UVB and/or UVA emitting devices for cosmetic tanning is widespread in Western populations including young people and is especially prevalent in females. Several epidemiological studies, although not all, have shown a significant relationship between the use of tanning devices and malignant melanoma after, in some cases, adjustment for confounding factors such as solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure. A relationship between solar exposure, especially intermittent exposure, and malignant melanoma is well established so it is not surprising that a similar connection has been reported for the use of tanning devices. Several epidemiological studies show that childhood exposure to sunlight is a risk factor for malignant melanoma and this may also be the case for the use of tanning devices, especially if sunburns are obtained. Some studies have evaluated the relationship between the use of tanning devices and non-melanoma skin cancer and at least one has suggested an association. The use of tanning devices by a substantial minority of young people is a worrying trend in terms of a likely increased incidence of malignant melanoma, and possibly non-melanoma cancers in the future. Although two recent reviews by epidemiologists conclude that a clear link between tanning devices and malignant melanoma is yet to be proven, there is a strong case for effective legislation to prohibit the use of tanning devices by people under 18 yr of age.