Experts are calling for sunscreen subsidies, GST removal and free school sunscreen to reduce cost barriers to sun protection in New Zealand, where melanoma rates and deaths are among the highest in the world.
Senior research fellow and co-director of the Cancer Society Research Collaboration Dr Bronwen McNoe said 89 percent of New Zealanders supported making sunscreen more affordable, according to a survey. More than half of New Zealanders reported that cost prevents them from using it. She notes that sunscreen is around a third more expensive in New Zealand than in Australia, where GST is removed, and points to Australia’s declining skin cancer rates as evidence of the potential benefits of affordability measures.
The article was published on RNZ on 5 October 2026.
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