Forty years of Slip! Slop! Slap! A call to action on skin cancer prevention for Australia

Abstract

Four decades of evidence demonstrates the considerable health and economic benefits of implementing skin cancer prevention interventions in Australia • Other countries have looked to Australia as a world leader in skin cancer prevention when delivering their own skin cancer prevention programs. Despite this, there has not been national investment in skin cancer prevention in Australia for more than a decade. A renewed focus is therefore needed • A comprehensive policy strategy comprising mass-media campaigns, robust data collection and regulatory measures with a focus on protecting children will offer the best opportunity to maximise Australia's gains in skin cancer prevention

Effectiveness, compliance and application of sunscreen for solar ultraviolet radiation protection in Australia

“…Today, key sun protection messages have expanded to ensure a focus on individual and environmental strategies, targeting both the public and workers. 30 practice is the recent product recall issued by the TGA for a particular aerosol sunscreen after some batches were found to contain a potentially harmful ingredient not listed for inclusion in the product.…”

Skin cancer – time for national leadership to meet critical challenges ahead

“…instead it has been left to some state governments and cancer agencies to deliver. 3 Australia's world-leading efforts to ban commercial sunbeds, for example, came about without federal intervention, instead it was left to each state or territory to implement laws to ban their use.…”

“…This is despite the Australian Government having to pay the bulk of the healthcare costs associated with skin cancer treatment. Since the paper by Walker et al 3 was published online early in December 2021, the Australian Government has committed to a $20 million skin cancer campaign over 2 years. 5 There is reason to celebrate this first nationally coordinated campaign in more than a decade, however it is unfortunate that funding is still short term.…”

“…6 Skin cancer prevention not only saves lives, but it also provides a significant return of $2-4 for every dollar invested. 7,8 Unlike many areas of public health, where we are still learning about what interventions are effective, our 40 years of effort as illustrated by Walker et al 3 provides a clear roadmap of what we need to do to reduce the very significant burden of skin cancer in Australia; we just now need the will and government investment to do it.…”

Early detection of skin cancer in Australia – current approaches and new opportunities

“…a check of a mole or spot, and 41% reported no skin check. 14 The relatively high prevalence of skin checks in Australia is probably due to multiple factors including high awareness of skin cancer 6 , the presence of designated primary care skin cancer clinics, and community-wide prevention campaigns.…”