WHEREAS using indoor tanning devices is particularly damaging for youth and increases their risk of melanoma the deadliest form of skin cancer; AND WHEREAS the Medical Health Officers Council of BC calls upon the Province of British Columbia to use its regulatory powers to restrict use of indoor tanning beds by persons under the age of 18: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM lobby the provincial government to introduce legislation to ban indoor tanning for youth under the age of 18.
Ministry of Health On March 20, 2012, the Province announced that it will ban commercial tanning bed use by young people under the age of 18, unless they have a medical prescription. The proposed regulation under the Public Health Act is anticipated to take effect in the fall of 2012. The announcement follows the release of a report by the Indoor Tanning Working Group in March 2012, which recommended the ban. The Working Group was established at the request of the Minister of Health in fall 2011. This followed the introduction of a bylaw by the Capital Regional District in Victoria banning minors under the age of 18 from using indoor tanning beds as well as subsequent requests for a province-wide ban by a number of medical organizations and the UBCM. The Working Group included representation from the Joint Canadian Tanning Association; BC Cancer Agency; Canadian Cancer Society; Canadian Dermatology Association; BC Centre for Disease Control; UBCM; Office of the Provincial Health Officer; and Ministry of Health.