Editing Slip-Slop-Slap (section)

== Effect on cancer rates ==
Since this campaign was introduced along with advertisements and a [[jingle]], the incidence of the two most common forms of skin cancer ([[basal-cell carcinoma]] and [[squamous cell carcinoma]]) in Australia has decreased. However, the incidence of [[melanoma]], the most lethal form of skin cancer, has increased.<ref name=Garland>{{cite journal |vauthors=Garland C, Garland F, Gorham E |title=Could sunscreens increase melanoma risk? |url= |journal=Am J Public Health |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=614–5 |year=1992 |pmid=1546792|doi=10.2105/AJPH.82.4.614 |pmc=1694089}}</ref> However, statistical analysis from the Australian Government's ''[[Australian Institute of Health and Welfare]]'' found this increased incidence risk is almost entirely in the older (over-60 years) population, who lived the majority of their lives before the importance of sun safety was widely known, whereas the rate of incidence of melanoma by age 30 has consistently dropped from its peak in 1997, having halved in the time to 2020. Meanwhile, risk of melanoma incidence by age 60 has remained stable since 2011.<ref name=AIHWReport>{{cite web |url=https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia/contents/cancer-data-commentaries/risk-of-melanoma |title=Cancer data in Australia Risk of melanoma of the skin by age and over time |website=Australian Government Australian Institute of Health and Welfare |date=30 October 2020 |access-date=3 Jan 2023}}</ref> An epidemiological study published in 2002 concluded that skin cancer increases could not be associated with the use of sun creams, and recommended continued use of the current campaigns as a means to reduce melanoma risk.<ref name=Bastuji-Garin>{{cite journal |author=Bastuji-Garin, S |author2=Diepgen, TL |title=Cutaneous malignant melanoma, sun exposure, and sunscreen use: epidemiological evidence |url= http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118938441/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0  |archive-url= https://archive.today/20121021212242/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118938441/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0  |url-status= dead  |archive-date= 2012-10-21  |journal=British Journal of Dermatology |volume=146 |issue=6 |pages=24–30 |year=2002 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2133.146.s61.9.x|s2cid=28050694 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The experience of more than 25 years of skin cancer prevention in Australia shows broad-based multifaceted public education programs can improve a population's sun protective behaviors and reducing [[sunburn]], a short-term marker of skin cancer risk.<ref name="ReferenceA">Hill DJ, Dobbinson SJ, Makin J. Interventions to lower ultraviolet radiation exposure: Education, legislation and public policy. ASCO 2009 Education Book 2009:  526-531.</ref> Furthermore, declining skin cancer incidence in younger cohorts and economic assessment show skin cancer prevention programs are an eminently worthwhile investment.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>