A Miss Universe Ireland finalist is campaigning to make sunbeds illegal claiming users double their risk of contracting skin cancer.
Wexford woman Melanie Delaney works as an oncology pharmaceutical technician.
The 24-year-old is involved in chemotherapy for patients undergoing cancer treatment and is using the beauty pageant to highlight the dangers of sunbeds.
Melanie wrote a paper to Health Minister Simon Harris exposing tanning salons who were breaking the law.
She told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I researched 10 businesses.
“They were doing things like promoting false health creams for sunbeds.
“They were omitting things like, ‘Using a sunbed will increase your risk of skin and eye cancer’.
“They were all breaking the law so I wrote a paper to Mr Harris and I was really happy with the outcome. The businesses and their social media were investigated, action was taken and they were made to comply with law.”
Melanie said by educating the public on the dangers of sunbeds she hopes to eventually see them banned.
She added: “I would like to see them outlawed but I’d like to educate the public first because they’ll understand then when they eventually become outlawed. They’ve been outlawed in Australia and there’s a high level of skin cancer there too, if it can happen in Australia it can happen here too.”
As the risks of sunbeds are not fully understood by the public, Melanie has set out to expose the truth.
She said: “One in two people will receive a cancer diagnosis by 2020, it’s a shocking statistic and I know skin cancer is the number one cause of cancer in Ireland.
“Even using a sunbed once before the age of 35 increases your risk of skin cancer by 55%.”
The Miss Universe Ireland hopeful said dyslexia was her toughest challenge to overcome and it’s a dream come true to have become successful.
She added: “In primary school and secondary learning to read and write was a huge challenge for me.
“I made the decision it was either going to be something that was going to define me and hold me back or I could work hard and overcome it.
“I’m not going to sugar coat it, I had to work extremely hard in school but now I have a successful career and I’m able to do things like take papers to politicians and try and have the law regulated.”
- The Miss Universe Ireland final takes place in the Mansion House Dublin on August 1.
