Our sunburnt Territory

One in four NT residents gets lobstered each weekend

THE Northern Territory is the reddest place in the nation, with a quarter of all Territorians getting sunburnt every weekend.

According to new research from the Cancer Council, around 43,000 of Territory adults get burnt on weekends.

Cancer Council NT chief executive Kathy Sadler said: “the Northern Territory hasn’t had government funding for a broad skin cancer prevention campaign for a very long time and this latest data suggests adults are becoming complacent about UV and demonstrates the urgent need for a refreshed campaign”.

“We suspect Territorians are slopping on sunscreen while at the same time reducing their use of covering clothing and expecting to be protected all day long,” she said.

“The good news is that sunscreen use has increased since the first survey. This is excellent news, but there is still a lot of work to do.”

Australasian College of Dermatologists president Andrew Miller said parents seemed to be more focused on protecting their kids’ skin than using sunscreen themselves.

“We often see Australian parents protecting their children with rashies, hats, sunscreen and shade – while not protecting themselves well,” he said.

“Two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime and it’s never too late to protect their skin from further damage.

“We want to see more adults setting a good example and joining their children in being SunSmart.

“Melanoma rates in Australians aged 40 and under are dropping and the children of today are our most SunSmart generation ever.

“However, it’s a real concern that use of sun protection behaviours overall don’t seem to be improving and that over 2.7 million Australians are putting themselves at risk of skin cancer by getting sunburnt on summer weekends.”

Teenager Harrison Armstrong said he was trying to get habits in place so that by the time he was an adult, sunscreen would be a normal thing. “You have to start getting in to the routine of putting sunscreen on. Do it now and it will become automatic in the future,” Harrison said.