The Medical Necessity of Sunscreen Access

Julia Siegel, MD is a Board-Certified Dermatologist at Boston Dermatology and Laser Center.

In this video, Dr Siegel discusses the medical necessity of sunscreen and how she's working to help make it easier for people to access while traveling.

TRANSCRIPT-

Dr. Julia Siegel:  I was on vacation going to a tropical island. I brought six different 3.4 ounce sunscreens with me in my carry-on thinking, "Well, at least I can bring a ton of them. It should be able to last me." Then they confiscated a bunch of them saying, "You really can't take this much liquid with you." I had a minimal amount, just two or three.

I tried to spread it out on my trip. I ended up getting burned, which is very embarrassing for someone in dermatology. I had to wear long sleeves when I came back home to work. It made me realize how important access is.

That's where I came up with that idea of we need to get sunscreens allowed in carry-ons or we need to improve access, at least for people going to these islands where it's so expensive when you get there, $20 for a small bottle. People aren't going to spend that much when they've already budgeted out a fair amount of money just to go on the vacation.

We're still working with TSA. The AAD is now helping us as well. I do have another idea. This is somewhere where other dermatologist could help as well. One thought if we aren't able to get things through security, if this ends up not working out, is could we supply full-size sunscreens to be sold past security in airports?

Could they be sold at discount prices, or at least at market prices? They often cost more in an airport than they do in a Target, Walgreens, or a regular store. If we were able to supply full-size sunscreens past security, people could buy those at reasonable prices and still take them with them on their trip and have an adequate supply.

Another thought similar to that is sunscreen vending machines. Could we get a vendor to agree to do that, supply that, and maybe involve certain sunscreen brands that are focused on access and fighting the battle against skin cancer? Would they be willing to sell their products for just a little bit less in airports to improve access?

That's my next idea. We'll see. If any dermatologists out there have thoughts about that or have other ideas about improving access, I would love to work with anyone who could help.

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I think the importance of access. We have talked about this. One thing that has inspired me is again, IMPACT Melanoma has put out all of these sunscreen dispensers in the parks around Boston. It's like a hand sanitizer dispenser. You put your hand under it, it comes out.

You see little kids putting it on, the parents putting it on. It's completely free. You see people using it who wouldn't necessarily have used it or gone out and bought it as they're going about their day. Seeing that, again, is inspirational for how improving access improves use.

We know that sunscreen prevent sunburns, and that sunburns are linked to multiple types of skin cancers. It's a really important effort. We would appreciate any help we could get.