Cancer Costs Expose Potential False Economy Of VAT Rise on Sun Cream

When it comes to sun protection, the rise in VAT may well prove a completely false economy by indirectly pushing up the cost of the nation’s annual bill for skin cancer treatment – currently around 71m. The government charges the full rate of VAT on sun cream by classifying it as a luxury item rather than a health protection product which would make it exempt from VAT.

Skin cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in the UK and it is on the rise – according to Cancer Research around 70,000 new cases of skin cancer were diagnosed in the UK in 2009 and nearly 2,000 people died. Quite simply, the protection we invest in now will help prevent a skin cancer time bomb, and the huge costs associated with it, in years to come.

We are now more informed than ever before about sun protection so why aren’t we protecting ourselves enough It is partly due to the complex beauty v protection ’;split personality’ of the sun care industry - on the one hand we have a definite need to protect ourselves sensibly from the dangers of sun exposure and on the other we have the carefully nurtured desirability factor of a ’;healthy tan’ promoted by the beauty industry which produces a wide range of highly priced sun creams that promise beauty and protection plus VAT at the full rate of course.

This situation ensures there is a high cost perception around sun protection and which makes it a ’;special event’ purchase rather than an everyday essential. This is a potentially lethal scenario that will be exacerbated by a VAT hike in 2011 - helping push sun protection off the agenda for many hard up families struggling to juggle the household budget.

According to Graham Hill of Delph Suncare, a brand that pioneers low cost family sun protection, supplied to the troops in Afghanistan, schools and the NHS and is one of only 6 listed on the drug tariff meaning it can be prescribed by GPs, "The VAT increase will create a potentially devastating false economy in the sun care market – the current VAT situation regarding protection from skin cancer is unfair enough and the further scheduled increase will undoubtedly make a bad situation worse – making family sun protection prohibitively expensive for many, when families need to actively embrace the need for sun protection. What we might gain in revenue in the short term we will pay for in the long in a potentially critical increase in the cost of the annual treatment of skin cancer."

ENDS

Cost of Skin Cancer In England – Tanaka Business School, 2005.
Sunday Times Travel July 3 2010

NOTES TO EDITOR
The Delph Sun Care range is available in Factors 8 – 50 and one of only 6 sun creams listed on the UK Drug Tariff.

Delph has been fully tested to medical standards not tested on animals and offers no-compromise sun protection at a fraction of the designer range cost providing protection for all the family.

Much of the blame for the current rise in cases of melanoma can be attributed to the holiday boom of the 1970’s and our lack of awareness about unprotected sunbathing. However, we are now better informed and some cases of skin cancer can be avoided if people are encouraged to be pro-active about being sensibly protected from the sun – both on holiday abroad and here in the UK from April to September.

At the top end of the market sun cream can cost in excess of five times the amount of Delph - which can save you up to 47 for a 2 week holiday.