Skip to navigation | Skip to content

Brits warned on Aussie skin cancer risk

Sid the Seagull

British people have not had the same decades of encouragement to protect themselves from the sun as Australians have, say researchers (Source: Cancer Council Victoria)

British-born outdoor workers in Australia are at greater risk of skin cancer than their local counterparts, researchers have found.

They suggest better education is needed for such employees, who consistently underestimate their risk from the country's harsh sun.

Katja Saris from the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane made the discovery as part of her PhD research, which studied a group of electrical industry workers chronically exposed to sunlight.

"Where people come from actually alters their perception of skin cancer risk," says Saris' supervisor Professor Michael Kimlin, a cancer researcher.

"If you're an Aussie, you think you've got a 50% chance of getting skin cancer," he says.

"However British people that have come out here to work, think they've only got about a 30% chance."

Kimlin says Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world and the actual rate of developing skin cancer, or some form of sun-related disease, is above 80% or 90% for outdoor workers.

"The winter time UV level that we measure here in Brisbane are more than that in summer in the Netherlands," he says.

Kimlin says while both Australian and British workers underestimate their risk of skin cancer, British workers underestimate it more.

Combined with the fact that they use less sunscreen, this means British workers are at higher risk of developing skin cancer than their Australian counterparts, says Kimlin.


Kimlin says while Australian's have had decades of health campaigns urging people to use sunscreen, British people have not had this experience.

"We've had 25 years of 'Sid the Seagull' and 'Slip Slop Slap' and all those factors but these British folk haven't," he says.

"They're out in this high UV environment, they're not using protection because they don't' think they're at risk."

Kimlin says Saris will now test some interventions to find out whether these can increase the use of sun protection among British workers.

He also says such education could be levelled at all new immigrants to Australia and possibly made a condition of visas.

"Maybe we need to say to them, 'Tick this box so that you understand you're entering a high UV environment and skin cancer is a major health issue'," says Kimlin.

Melanoma genes

In related research, scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research report discovery of two new gene variants that double a person's risk of developing melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.

They are the first genes found to increase melanoma risk by influencing the number of moles a person has, the researchers say.

They found people who carry one of the two gene variants have a 25% increased chance of developing melanoma, while for individuals carrying both variants their risk is doubled.

Tags: skin-cancer