A National Assembly for Wales committee has said more needs to be done to protect children from excessive exposure to the sun.
An inquiry by the Assembly’s Children and Young People Committee found that an increased awareness of sun protection policies and guidelines for schools in Wales was needed.
The inquiry also found that the Welsh Government had established guidelines about sun protection for children in schools but that more needed to be done to promote these and encourage development of individual school policies.
The committee urged the Welsh Government to work with Public Health Wales, the Welsh Local Government Association, schools and third-sector organisations to highlight existing guidelines.
The inquiry was in response to a petition from the cancer charity Tenovus, which called for the provision of free sunscreen to all children under the age of 11 in Wales.
The Committee welcomed a broader approach to sun safety and skin cancer prevention but decided not to endorse the petition’s call for free sunscreen.
“What the Committee heard during this inquiry is that protecting people from the effects of sun radiation is more to do with education and the provision of information,” said Christine Chapman AM, Chair of the Children and Young People Committee.
“We welcome the work organisations like Tenovus are doing to raise awareness of and reduce instances of skin cancer and feel that a more coordinated approach by the Welsh Government and relevant agencies and organisations in Wales will do much to help combat the problem.
“We believe the policies and guidelines such as those detailed in SunSmart are adequate but need better promotion and monitoring to ensure they are widely known and consistently applied.”