Mediplacements - Pharmacist calls for more sun care education

Pharmacist calls for more sun care education

Monday 24th August 2009

A UK pharmacist is calling for greater emphasis to be placed on educating the British public about the dangers of skin cancer.

Community pharmacist Rod Tucker told the Daily Mail that chemists should stop stocking sun care products with an protection factor below 15 and added that people should be made more aware of how suncreams are labelled.

Mr Tucker, who was involved in a parliamentary report on the dangers of skin cancer, added that there are several measures that could be taken to encourage people to wear suncream more regularly, including scrapping VAT on the product to make it more affordable and giving it away for free to schoolchildren.

"Getting children into good habits at an early age will stay with them," he said.

In 2005, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain called for "increased pharmacy activity" with regard to providing advice about safe sun exposure and the use of suncreams.

It noticed that as customers frequently visit pharmacies to purchase items for their holidays – including toiletries and first-aid products – this may mark a good opportunity for the pharmacist to open a discussion about safe sun exposure.

Written by Angela Newbury
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