SunSmart

Last updated

SunSmart
Focus Skin cancer prevention, healthy sun habits
Location
Website www.sunsmart.com.au

SunSmart is a not-for-profit health promotion program in Australia that promotes a balance between the benefits and harms of sunlight exposure, most notably including vitamin D and skin cancer.

Contents

Cancer Council Victoria and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) first funded SunSmart in 1988 in Victoria.[ citation needed ] Programs now operate in each state and territory of Australia by respective Cancer Councils, all using common principles but tailored to jurisdictional priorities.[ citation needed ]

Since the iconic Slip! Slop! Slap! message of the 1980s, the SunSmart program has expanded the sun protection message to include Seek shade and Slide on sunglasses. [1]

Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. At least two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70 [2] and more than 1,800 Australians die from skin cancer each year. [3]

SunSmart's investment in prevention brings considerable human and economic benefits across Australia. The program has generated a $2.30 net saving for every dollar spent, and was rated the second most cost-effective and health-saving intervention by the Victorian Department of Treasury. [4]

The 2010 Assessing Cost-Effectiveness of Prevention report identified an intensive SunSmart campaign as one of a handful of cost-effective interventions for the future that would have a large impact on Australia's health. [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Current TV campaigns: Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek & Slide". SunSmart.
  2. ↑ Staples M, Elwood M, Burton R, Williams J, Marks R, Giles G. Non-melanoma skin cancer in Australia: the 2002 national survey and trends since 1985. Medical Journal of Australia 2006; 184: 6–10.
  3. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics. Causes of death 2009. 3303.0. Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra, Australia 2010. Available from www.abs.gov.au.
  4. ↑ Shih ST, Carter R, Sinclair C, Mihalopoulos C, Vos T. Economic evaluation of skin cancer prevention in Australia. Preventive Medicine 2009; 49 (5): 449–453.
  5. ↑ Vos T, Carter R, Barendregt J, Mihalopoulos C, Veerman L, Magnus A, Cobiac L, Bertram M, Wallace AL, ACE-Prevention Team. Assessing cost-effectiveness in prevention (ACE-Prevention): Final report. University of Queensland & Deakin University: Brisbane & Melbourne 2010.
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