There is strong evidence linking sunbed use to skin cancer, and tanning machines are particularly damaging to people under the age of 35. Photograph: Frank Augstein/APA stroll down County Road in Liverpool reveals why the city is often referred to as the sunbed capital of the UK. Shops offering tans sit beside cafes and clothes stores. Now nail salons and hairdressers, even gyms, frequently offer sunbed facilities alongside other services. We estimate there are at least 200 sunbed businesses in the city, but there could be more as these outlets don't have to be licensed.
In Liverpool young people in particular regularly use sunbeds. In 2009 Cancer Research UK revealed half of 15- to 17-year-old girls in the city had used a sunbed, compared to 11% nationally.
One of the key priorities identified by our health and wellbeing board, in its new role, is skin cancer prevention. Skin cancer is the fastest growing cancer among 18- to 35-year-olds and is largely preventable. There is strong evidence that links sunbed use to skin cancer and these tanning machines are particularly damaging to people under the age of 35.
This is why last week we launched a campaign that educates young people in our city about the dangers of sunbeds. The campaign is also asking the government to grant local authorities the power to license sunbed businesses, so we can keep track of where they are and how they are operating.
Our campaign is not just about advertising our message and hoping people will listen, we are looking at the motivations of sunbed users and leveraging the truly collaborative approach to tackling behaviour change that the local authority's new public health role brings.
We involved young girls in the campaign development to get an understanding of why they use sunbeds and to ensure the campaign spoke to them. These girls say they feel better about themselves with a tan. Responding to this insight, we have a fake tan brand supporting the campaign by teaching girls how to use fake tan, to get the tanned look, without the health risks.
We also spoke to mums and discovered many are unaware of the risks themselves and don't speak to their daughters about sunbeds in the same way they would about drinking, smoking or unprotected sex. We'll be educating both teenagers and engaging with their parents via our schools, so they feel confident having these conversations.
It was only recently that councils became responsible for public health, as part of the health and social care bill, but it's already evident the transfer brings advantages. We're able to use the wide range of functions local authorities discharge to change behaviour in our city.
This isn't the first time we've taken a collaborative approach of combining the efforts of the NHS and the local authority in Liverpool.
In 2006 we played a pivotal role in influencing parliamentary vote in favour of legislation on smoking. Now, with public health being the responsibility of the council, there is an even greater opportunity to influence health through almost every area of policy, from planning and licensing to education, housing and economic growth.
We are asking the government to grant all local authorities (not just Liverpool), the power to license sunbed businesses and tighten regulations. We want to work with the sunbed industry to ensure a number of minimum standards are met – such as provision of goggles, skin assessments and approved educative materials about the risks.
We want to protect young people, who are most vulnerable, from the dangers of sunbeds and to ensure the rest of the population can make an informed choice about using them.
We hope that by asking for these powers across England and by sharing our learning we can encourage other authorities to take a similar approach to tackling this problem.
Paula Grey is joint director of public health at Liverpool city council.
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