Mary Harney Seeks Total Ban on Sunbeds

MagicMarker

Is this woman for real?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0824/cancer.html

Minister for Health Mary Harney has said she would like to see a total ban on the use of sunbeds in Ireland to reduce the risk of cancer.

Speaking at a global cancer summit in Dublin, the minister said she has asked her department to see if such a ban is possible, as EU approval would be required.

Ms Harney said that although there will be a significant reduction in health spending next year cancer will be a priority.

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The minister said that if around €400m in savings needed in staffing costs can be achieved, then salary reductions may have to be considered.

Meanwhile, the global cost of new cancer cases this year will be over €213bn, according to a report published today at a the cancer summit.

The report, commissioned by the Lance Armstrong Foundation and prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit, says there is a spending gap of over €130bn in treatment.

Read the report in full

It says there will be around 12.9m new cancer cases around the world this year and cancers have already progressed to where they are incurable in 80% of patients in developing countries.

Next year cancer will be the leading cause of death around the world.

The summit is an initiative by cancer survivor and seven times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who said major investment was needed to remove the personal pain and loss caused by cancer.

Several hundred cancer experts from around the world, as well as health ministers and heads of major corporations, are attending the three day summit in Dublin.

This afternoon, Health Minister Mary Harney will take part in a panel debate with other health ministers on government action on cancer.

For the record, I think people who use sunbeds are retards. But that doesn't mean there should be a ban on them.

If she cared at all about reducing the risk of cancer, then why doesn't she focus her attention on, oh I don't know, CIGARETTES!??! Or why not focus her attention on raising the money to pay for the Cervical Cancer Vaccine Program that was cancelled.

Idiots.

jd83

Shes just jealous because she cant find a sunbed big enough to take her.

retarded, first thing i thought of was cigarettes aswell. i think she's pissed of that she cant fit in them.

MizzLolly

Which is more common here? Skin Cancer or Cervical Cancer?


I like being pale anyway!

GLaDOS

MagicMarker wrote: »

If she cared at all about reducing the risk of cancer, then why doesn't she focus her attention on, oh I don't know, CIGARETTES!??!

Because we can't tax sunbeds to bits

My name is URL

That's because there's no excise on people using them

Why not ban cigarettes too? They cause more deaths

Useless bloody cnut

Lollipops23

they recently said that sunbeds cause a greater risk of cancer than smoking.


honeslty,i think they should ban em. they're unneccessary and harmful. why wouldn't you want rid of em?

AlmightyCushion

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Because we can't tax sunbeds to bits

I'm sure they could if they wanted to. Are sunbeds really that popular here? I didn't think their use was all that widespread.

bada_bing

i think the idea is sound in principle but not realistic at all. I mean if you eliminate sunbeds totally , you could reduce the overall incidence of skin cancer but then you might as well ban smoking completely as that would reduce lung cancer. then she should ban driving in ireland as that would reduce deaths on the road and so on and on.....so not realistic at all!!!!

jd83

I didnt think they were that popular. You do see a lot of tangoed girls when your out but i think thats more spray than sunbed.

Bandit12

For once i agree with her.

Big_G

This is ridiculous. Focus on fixing the healthcare system, you eejit Harney. Would this result in a significant savings in life and provision of healthcare for people with skin cancer? Methinks not. Playing politics with lives. Excellent stuff.

ronnie3585

While I agree that sunbeds are extremely dangerous and should only be used by tangoo'd retards, the concept of banning their use is crazy. Just another action of the government that will push the unemployment figures even higher (due to the loss of jobs in the area, not the loss of suntans).

slamman

I think a total ban on Mary Harney would be the best thing for the health of this country and not wasting time and money banning sun beds!!

Gary ITR

A sunbed won't leave you tangoed.

Sunbeds used in a responsible manner are actually very good for the skin. UV rays clear bacteria from the skin and also increase Vitamins D and E

If used in an irresponsible manner then they are very very harmful

bleg

It's a lot easier to smuggle cigarettes than sunbeds.

Hagar

We wouldn't need sunbeds if that eclipse of a woman wasn't blocking all the natural sunshine.

Dudess

The first person to mention how ironic it is that she is so overweight yet minister for health... I applaud you, you genius.

trout

How much tax revenue do sunbeds generate ?

walshb

Hey, while Mrs. Harney is at it, why doesn't she also ban junk food like Mackers
or Burger King, and even go a step further, and ban a minister for health who isn't exactly leading by example. I do not mean to be cruel and I would never insult a person because of their weight, but she is the Minister for Health in Ireland and obesity is a major major health issue. She has a damn cheek to be trying to ban sun beds based on health when she herself is far from setting a good example as regards obesity.

Biggins

There is not as much tax revenue to be made from sunbeds - so they are an easy target for the muppets in the Dail to be also seen to be doing something.
Ask them to ban something that effects thousands a lot more - and which they also make money out of - I'm sure they could come up with some convenient excuse not to and/or just ignore the question quietly in the first place

Harney full of piss and shooting it also into the wind!

ScumLord

Mary Harney deploys smoke screen.


This is nonsense, it shouldn't even be discussed. The media should stop latching onto these stupid ideas that FF's PR donkeys come up with. At best this kind of nonsense should get a blank stare. But seriously the hospitals what are you going to do to fix the chronic mismanagement?

Gary ITR

trout wrote: »

How much tax revenue do sunbeds generate ?

Also how much employment do they generate. I know Dublin City Centre alone has about 15 'Tanning Shops', if this ban was introduced then there's going to be a lot of job losses

Dudess

walshb wrote: »

Hey, while Mrs Harney is at it, why doesn't she also ban junk food like Mackers
or Burger King, and even go a step further, and ban a minister for health who isn't exactly leading by example. I do not mean to be cruel and I would never insult a person because of their weight, but she is the Minister for Health in Ireland and obesity is a major major health issue. She has a damn cheek to be trying to ban sun beds based on health when she herself is far from setting a good example in regards obesity.

So she shouldn't do her job because she's fat and it would look hypocritical?

Hagar

Dudess wrote: »

The first person to mention how ironic it is that she is so overweight yet minister for health... I applaud you, you genius.

As a fat bastard myself I can say what I like about fat people as I'm speaking from a position of personal expert knowledge. Mary Harney is in no position to give anybody direction on their health. She's a poster girl for self-destruction. But rest assured, when she has that heart attack she will not be left on a trolley in a hall like a common or garden taxpayer. Top class heath care is only a phone call away for her.

walshb

Dudess wrote: »

So she shouldn't do her job because she's fat and it would look hypocritical?

No, I think, as such a high profile person in a position of major influence, dealing with a serious problem in Ireland, then we should expect her to lead by example; and I am afraid she is not. Again, not meaning to be cruel, but I am simply saying what a lot are thinking.

I wonder does Mrs. Harney have to wait as long as the many others to see a specialist
dealing with obesity?

My name is URL

It's all a ruse to make people become seditious, then they can lock us up

Wagon

MagicMarker wrote: »

If she cared at all about reducing the risk of cancer, then why doesn't she focus her attention on, oh I don't know, CIGARETTES!??!

There's enough bloody bitching about cigerattes already from this country but i do see your point. Then again, the amount of tax the govermnent make from them is massive. They dont want people to stop smoking because its a massive earner for them.

Or why not focus her attention on raising the money to pay for the Cervical Cancer Vaccine Program that was cancelled.

Yep good point. And what about breast cancer and prostate cancer? Aren't they the most common ones in ireland with ung cancer being in third?

Idiots.

Couldn't agree more.

Biggins

Lets be honest, can't happen, won't happen.
The amount of people in the country she would make unemployed over night WOULD lead to eventual riots on the streets of Dublin alone in protest.

She and FF know it. Won't happen. Its all bullschit.

laugh

If they ban them, I'm gonna:

1. Secretly install many of them in my attic.
2. Charge monies for their use.
3. Profit
4. Install cameras
5. Have a live feed to the internets toastedsnatch.com
6. Profit x 100000000

Overheal

Tell that woman to ****off and choke on a hoagie.

Theres some actual benefits to sunbeds, especially when the weather is ****. The body is done good by regular doses of Vitamin D and all that. Hear of Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Again, tell her to go die. signed, Overheal

Wertz

WTF does "seeking a ban" mean? When she moved to ban magic mushrooms 3 yrs back or BZP last year she didn't seek to do a f*cking thing...she went ahead and did it.
Is it because sunbeds might be a source of income for a lot of small (non-headshop) businesses with people who might kick up a lot of stink, that she feels the need to test public opinioon on such a move or what?

As for the ban itself? Sure, why not. If UVB is as bad a carcinogen as what is now reckoned then unsupervised sessions and coin-op machines are a ticking timebomb for melanomas.

Comparisions to cigarettes are stupid (oh the ironing)...obviously they're not going to go and ban one of their revenue cash cows...

thomond2006

I think she's mighty pissed that the sunbed couldn't evaporate her excessive puppy fat.

JONJO THE MISER

This is great news, they should of been banned years ago, what women that use them dont realise is that long term they cause you cancer.

trout

Overheal wrote: »

Tell that woman to ****off and choke on a hoagie.l

Is a hoagie a quaint american euphemism for turd or perhaps an erection

laugh

trout wrote: »

Is a hoagie a quaint american euphemism for turd or perhaps an erection

A big lump of flem.

Hagar

It's a big roll-type sammich.

Kalashnikov_Kid

Expect mass protest outside the Orts Block, UCD, and a 'sit-in-Daddy's-cor' protest on Stephens' Green if this goes ahead - the country could be on its knees haha

Dudess

Hagar wrote: »

Mary Harney is in no position to give anybody direction on their health.

She is. It's her job and she gets paid for it and someone appointed her. She is in no position not to give direction on health.

rest assured, when she has that heart attack she will not be left on a trolley in a hall like a common or garden taxpayer. Top class heath care is only a phone call away for her.

Oh no doubt - that's a perk of the job though (not that it should be, but it is).

eirmail

why not treat them like cigarettes and tax them , how does 1 euro a minute sound?

stovelid

Harney's weight is irrelevant to her job which is basically an administrative role when you think about it.

Having a less-than-white financial background hasn't disqualified people from the Finance post, has it?

Fair enough if she was a fitness instructor or PE teacher though.

Overheal

The thing that really gets up my goat hairs is she thinks Ireland is at some great risk for UV related disease ... have you looked outside recently?

bleg

Overheal wrote: »

The thing that really gets up my goat hairs is she thinks Ireland is at some great risk for UV related disease ... have you looked outside recently?

South Carolina is lovely this time of year I hear.

trout

Hagar wrote: »

It's a big roll-type sammich.

Ahh ... no tumescent turds then ... good, good.

Dudess

stovelid wrote: »

Harney's weight is irrelevant to her job which is basically an administrative role when you think about it.

Fair enough if she was a fitness instructor or PE teacher.

Exactly. I'm not saying "oh stop being cruel about Mary's weight" - I'm just saying it's pointless going on about it when it's not relevant. Her job is not to be an example - it's to run a particular service which happens to be the health one. I agree it's ironic and quite funny, but nothing more than that. Nobody says the Minister for Sport should be sporty.

Pighead

Dudess wrote: »

Nobody says the Minister for Sport should be sporty.

And Pighead's pretty sure that the Minister for Foreign Affairs ain't foreign.

trout

Dudess wrote: »

... Nobody says the Minister for Sport should be sporty.

True ... you'd like the Minister for Finance to have personal experience of bank accounts though.
I mean, it's not like the country is run on a cash in hand basis ... oh, wait. Nevermind.

Overheal

bleg wrote: »

South Carolina is lovely this time of year I hear.

quiet you! you know exactly what I meant. Ive got 8 years exposure to your foul weather.

Hagar

stovelid wrote: »

Harney's weight is irrrevant to her job which is basically an administrative role when you think about it.

It's not her ability that doubt, well yes it is, but her credibility. If I turned up to my doc with chest pains at her weight I would be ridiculed and probably put down the waiting list in favour of people who were obviously trying to take care of their health. She is a mirror image of our health system, bloated, un-fit for it's job, ready to keel over at any minute.

stovelid wrote: »

Having a less-than-white financial background hasn't disqualified people from the Finance post, has it?

Should have though, shouldn't it?

Wertz

Overheal wrote: »

The thing that really gets up my goat hairs is she thinks Ireland is at some great risk for UV related disease ... have you looked outside recently?

That's exactly why we're such a risk...we're genetically fair to pale and see little naturally strong sunlight for 8+ months of the year.
Add into the mix a lot of vain people who are brainwashed into thinking a tan is healthy and attractive, who go out and overuse sunbeds with little awarness of the risk involved...

Dudess

I used a sunbed once - it made me a bit pink.