Written question asked by Bruce George (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 September 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 9 September 2009. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 September 2009 on behalf of the Department of Health.

SunSmart

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will require the SunSmart campaign to use the funds allocated to it from the public purse to increase its level of activity in schools.

Answer: SunSmart, the national skin cancer prevention and sun protection campaign, is run by Cancer Research UK on behalf of the UK Health Departments. Schools have always been an important target audience for the campaign. All schools have been encouraged to develop their own sun protection policies with guidelines available from the SunSmart website at:"www.sunsmart.org.uk"which provides schools and parents with the opportunity to ask for further information around skin cancer and sun protection issues. The campaign also provides resources for schools which align with the national curriculum.In spring 2009, a SunSmart competition aimed at raising awareness of SunSmart's sun protection messages, ran across primary schools in England.

Secondary information