New Zealand's high melanoma rate is "unacceptable" and more needs to be done to protect the nation's school pupils from excessive sun exposure, Associate Prof Tony Reeder says.
Prof Reeder, director of the University of Otago's Cancer Society Social and Behavioural Research Unit, said New Zealand and Australia had the world's highest melanoma rates.
In 2008, the latest available figures, 202 men and 115 women died from melanoma in New Zealand.
Such deaths were largely preventable, starting with doing more to protect youngsters at primary school.
Australia had long been taking active steps to counter excessive sun exposure, and efforts were also being made in this country through the Cancer Society's New Zealand SunSmart Schools Accreditation Programme, which gives suggestions involving school policy, providing information and shade provision.
Sun exposure in children's early years influenced to a large degree their lifetime potential for melanoma skin cancer, he said.
After a study undertaken by researchers at the unit found little more than half of primary schools were working towards providing adequate shade, he urged the Government to do more to ensure children were sunsmart at school.
Researchers at the unit monitored 12 sun protection criteria at 189 primary schools between 2005 and 2009.
The weakest area was encouraging the use of sun protective clothing, which only 43% of schools were doing by 2009.
Schools in the Auckland and Northland regions showed the smallest average improvement across 12 criteria involving sun protection, while schools in Waikato-Bay of Plenty showed the greatest, followed by Wellington and Otago-Southland.
Schools were "a very good place to start" not only to protect children, but also in terms of education for life, Prof Reeder, the study lead author, said.
It had become largely the responsibility of a charity, the Cancer Society of New Zealand, to run health promotion efforts in this area, but public agencies such as the Ministries of Education and Health and the Education Review Office should be taking more responsibility for sun protection, as they did with other health and safety issues at school.
