Position of health organizations and agencies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the World Health Organization, on ultraviolet radiation and vitamin D.

William B. Grant, Ph.D.

I checked the Internet for position statements on solar UVR and vitamin D by major health organizations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. The findings are summarized in Table 1. As can be seen, nearly all point out the risks of melanoma and skin cancer. Only a few seem to mention solar UVB as a source of vitamin D. None discusses the wide variety of diseases prevented by adequate levels of vitamin D based on the current literature. Hopefully, these positions will change as the organizations and agencies assess the more recent research findings.

Table 1. Summary of statements by major health organizations on solar UVR and vitamin D. The information given below can be found by searching at each web site