Cork council to seek funding for free sunscreen in schools, libraries, and offices
Free sunscreen should be provided at all schools and public buildings to combat the rise of skin cancer and the likelihood it will increase with hotter weather due to climate change.
Currently more than 11,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed every year and projections suggest that by 2045 they will more than double.
On foot of these figures Cork County Council is to write to minister for health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill urging the government to provide sunscreen at all local authority offices, libraries, schools, third-level institutions, etc just like the roll-out of hand sanitisers during covid.
The motion was proposed by Fine Gael councillor Aileen Browne, a healthcare worker, who said it would reduce the instances of skin cancer, which is now the most common cancer in Ireland.
'The financial argument is just as compelling. Treating advanced melanoma can cost our health service over €122,000 per case. Compare that to just over €4,000 for early-stage treatment. Prevention doesn't just save lives, it saves resources. It relieves pressure on an already overstretched health system,' Ms Browne said.
She added that Irish people are vulnerable to the cancer because of fair skin.
She said:
And while clouds may block the warmth, they do not block UV rays. Your skin can burn, even when the sun is hidden.
'This motion supports Action Area One of the National Skin Cancer Prevention Plan to improve awareness and promote behaviour change. It aligns with the Healthy Ireland framework and the National Cancer Strategy, both of which call for cross-sectoral collaboration to embed preventive measures in everyday life,' Ms Browne added.
Social Democrats councillor Ann Bambury, a mother of four young children, said it makes sense in an increasingly warming climate and added that the government should remove VAT from it as sunscreen is currently classified as a cosmetic.
Independent councillor Ben Dalton-O'Sullivan said the HSE implemented a pilot sunscreen dispensing system at Fountainstown beach last year and he had asked some of its officials to roll it out to all beaches in Co Cork this summer. He didn't say if they had responded favourably to his request yet.
County council chief executive Moira Murrell said she would fully support any such initiative, and the local authority already provides sunscreen to its outdoor workers.
The county council is also rolling out the provision of free menstrual products at its offices which will be available to both staff and the public. This is being done following a request from Fianna Fáil councillor Gobnait Moynihan.
Her party colleague Gillian Coughlan, who chairs Cork ETB, said she has proposed to it that the same initiative is also undertaken in all schools in the region.
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