Australian primary school students have for a decade been given sunscreen and hats as part of a public health programme started in the late 1970s to reduce the incidence of skin cancer amongst adults (skin cancer rates have fallen for several years in a row). Now it looks as if both primary and secondary students will be encouraged to wear sunglasses to prevent eye diseases such as cancer, age-related macular degeneration and pterygium.

Most Australian primary schools already enforce a no hat/no sunscreen/no play policy, and it looks as if sunglasses may be next on the list. In NSW, sales of sunglasses to school-aged children have risen by almost 20% in the last year with further large rises expected this year. With summers warming up in the UK and a rapid rise in the rates of skin cancer, it may not be too long before we see similar policies here.