Hume has earned a top score in a drive against skin cancer with all 32 council-managed childcare centres and preschools now part of Cancer Council Victoria’s SunSmart program.
SunSmart manager Sue Heward says she’s delighted with the progress Hume council has made in the past 17 years.
Of the 35 primary schools in Hume, 28 (80 per cent) are SunSmart members.
Hume communities director Margarita Caddick said: “It is frightening to think that two in three Australians develop some form of skin cancer before the age of 70, so we are proud to be preventing skin cancer and reducing those statistics.’’
Mill Park Heights Primary School has been a SunSmart member for more than 10 years.
School principal Deborah Patterson said: “We have compulsory hats from September until April, we encourage the children to bring sunscreen, and we have shade sails and a tailored hot-weather timetable.’’
