New Zealand now has world's highest rate of melanoma skin cancer

New Zealand now has the highest rate of melanoma skin cancer in the world – eclipsing Australia as the most dangerous place to be exposed to the sun.

New research published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology has found New Zealand has 50 cases of melanoma per 100,000 people, compared with Australia’s 48.

While Australia’s incidence of melanoma has begun declining, New Zealand’s continues to rise, the report found.

Professor David Whiteman, who led the study, said the New Zealand government had failed to invest in adequate prevention, instead leaving the bulk of the work to charities like Melanoma New Zealand.

“New Zealand’s approach has been fragmented, piecemeal and with limited or no government support,” Whiteman said.

“The health minister needs to step up and show leadership on this issue because New Zealand is really lagging behind, and that costs lives.”

Whiteman said many New Zealanders’ Anglo-Celtic ancestry and outdoor lifestyles made them particularly vulnerable to sun damage, with UV levels “similar [to] or higher” than Australia’s.

Australia had taken bold government and state action on skin cancer prevention, which was particularly evident in school policies such as “no hat, no play” , and policies enforcing hats, sunscreen and protective clothing for outdoor workers, Whiteman said.

New Zealand health minister Jonathan Coleman said he was not surprised by the research.

“We knew we had a high melanoma rate anyway and we’ve got to continue pushing those messages around prevention, covering up, making sure people are wearing sunscreen and hats,” he said.

Linda Flay, CEO of Melanoma New Zealand, said that while skin cancer prevention had improved in the last five to 10 years, it was “deeply concerning” how many New Zealand schools were allowing children to be exposed to the sun without protection.

Flay said she was approached “constantly” by concerned parents whose children’s schools had no sun-safe policy of any kind.

Newly released research by the University of Otago found only 3% of secondary school children wore sun-protective hats at 10 school sports days in the south island city of Dunedin, and only 25% of supervising adults. It found sunscreen was available at half the school events, but shade was “not generally available”.

The researchers said this confirmed a national study that found only 50% of schools reported having a sun protection policy.

“Sadly, those findings didn’t surprise me at all,” said Flay.

“New Zealand also still has sunbeds and Australia has banned them. We really have a lot of catching up to do.”