Anyone who grew up in the 80s will probably be able to sing the jingle that Sid the Seagull performed on TV. It was fun, quirky and catchy enough to span four decades in our memories.

Goonellabah resident and retiree Gavan told the Lismore App he recalls the popular campaign and that he has regular visits to a skin specialist to monitor potential sun damage to his skin from his younger years.

“I’ve had few cut out, skin cancers, a few stitches, probably had a dozen or so removed over the last few years. Once you’ve had a few you become aware of what they look like and what they are,” Gavan said.

“I’ve got the type of skin, English and Irish background, I’m more prone to damage. And years gone by I wasn’t really aware of skin cancer, you just got sunburnt…as a kid you’d get sunburnt, sometimes pretty badly, you’d even get blisters. It wasn’t common for people to cover up,” he added.

This week is National Skin Cancer Action Week and while Sid and other sun protection campaigns delivered by the Cancer Council can claim some success in educating Australians about sun damage to our skin, a new research paper suggests that Sid’s and similar messages have not been heeded by younger Australians.

The paper released on Monday, published in the journal Public Health Research & Practice, reports that there has been no national investment in skin cancer prevention in Australia for more than a decade, despite the need for funding to maintain and improve the once-ubiquitous sun protection behaviours – slip, slop, slap.

Teenagers present a particular challenge in skin cancer prevention, say the authors from Cancer Council Victoria and Cancer Council Queensland. Concerningly, sunburn incidence has not decreased in teens since the early 2000s, with 26% reporting being sunburnt on summer weekends in 2016-17 and 38% still preferring a tan.

2021 campaign

Local year 10 student Eleanor told the Lismore App she and her younger sister Emily, in year 7, wear sunscreen when they go swimming.

“We’re red heads so we kind of have to,” Eleanor said.

The girls said that their school uniform does include a hat but it is not worn by the school population.

“Technically there is a cap in the uniform, but no-one wears it. It's really ugly. The school thought kids might wear a cap instead of a hat, but no-one does,” Eleanor explained.

When asked if they had a preference for tanned or untanned skin, the sisters agreed that untanned was preferred, again citing the sensible red head reason.

“…untanned. We have to, because we're red-heads, so we burn, we peel, we're white again. A little bit of tan is good, but we're pretty pale,” Emily said.

The students said they were aware potential sun damage.

“We know about it. It's not a worry so much, but we don't want to get it,” Emily added.

“We're kind of sick of sunscreen - it's greasy, it tastes bad when it gets in your mouth, it stings your eyes, and it's bad for fish and the ocean - but we feel like we have to wear it. We wear rash-shirts and go swimming later in the day to cut down on the need for it,” Eleanor concluded.

Although there have been cultural shifts towards sun protection in primary schools, early learning centres and workplaces, the same is not the case for secondary schools. The authors of this new research paper are calling for state governments to mandate protection from UV radiation for teens in the same way that they ban the sale to minors of other carcinogens such as tobacco and alcohol. They point out that in workplaces, UV radiation is considered an occupational health and safety risk and employers have a duty to take reasonable measures to protect staff.

“This means we are in the unacceptable situation where a parent could be better protected from a known carcinogen at work than their child is in the playground at school,” they note.

The authors report that Australia still has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, with nearly 15,000 melanomas diagnosed in 2017 and around 2,000 people dying every year from skin cancer. It is also one of the most expensive cancer types to treat, with the total cost currently sitting at around $1.68 billion annually – a figure that is likely to rise as new, more expensive treatments for melanoma become available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

“These high costs make it even more incredible that there is currently no government investment in skin cancer prevention at the national level,” the authors write.

“The lack of national investment is particularly alarming because sun-protective behaviours increase as skin cancer prevention campaign advertising increases, and they decrease when advertising is absent.” 

The complete paper can be read at https://www.phrp.com.au/issues/online-early/skin-cancer-prevention-a-call-to-action/

A full list of resources and information about skin cancer awareness and action can be found at the Cancer Council website .

There’s even some good news available about the hole in the ozone layer over Australia which contributes to sun damage and protection over our continent.

Visit the CSIRO website to find out more.