Researchers are also studying the effects of antitanning campaigns and legislation in other countries, a number of which have restricted access to tanning beds for minors. A recent web-based advertising campaign in Denmark targeted teens, and, along with legislation restricting access, resulted in a substantial drop in tanning bed use there, he said.
The results of campaigns and legislative efforts like these are being closely monitored so that the lessons learned about if and how they work can be incorporated into efforts here.
Lessons from the campaign against smoking launched three decades ago also are being incorporated into the current effort to reduce tanning, he said.
Although the link between tanning and melanoma isn’t quite as strong as the link between smoking and lung cancer, the seven key principles that made the antismoking campaign a success can be adapted for this purpose. These are surveillance, taxation, legal strategies, public health advertising campaigns, educational programs, legislation, and "some move to mandate enforcement," he said.
Some progress has been made with respect to these principles. For example, state-by-state surveillance and scoring of states’ level of compliance with existing regulations are underway, a 10% tax has been imposed on tanning salons, cost-efficacy studies are being planned, and lawsuits have been filed in multiple states. However, most of these efforts are in their infancy, Mr. Geller said.
For now, what exists across the United States is a "patchwork quilt of pretty crummy regulations," he said.
While intense pressure is on the Food and Drug Administration to ban tanning bed use by those under age 18 – including pressure from the American Academy of Dermatology – and while the agency is cognizant of the risks and has acknowledged a need for more regulations, "politics have prevailed, and at this point we don’t have the ban," he said.
The FDA website does, however, indicate plans for revising regulations and strengthening warning labels to make consumers more aware of the risks, he noted.
"This is good, but I think it’s a really faulty response to everything that we know about the link between tanning beds and melanoma," he said.
Despite the slow progress toward a ban for those under age 18, there have been some successes in the antitanning campaign. For one, numerous organizations have taken up the cause, including the World Health Organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Canadian Pediatric Society.
Also, thanks to a Federal Trade Commission crackdown in 2010, the tanning industry is no longer allowed to claim that tanning has certain health benefits, such as reducing the risks of some types of cancers. And in 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued its first guidelines on tanning, stating that the evidence is strong enough to recommend that women aged 10-24 years who have fair skin should avoid prime-time sun exposure and tanning beds.
Additionally, a wellness provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that will go into effect in May provides for full reimbursement to health care providers for counseling about skin cancer prevention and tanning bed reduction.
"We want to study this because we think this will have a huge effect on increasing the rate of counseling," he said.
Mr. Geller reported having no disclosures.