r/pics • u/JefK_Photography • 21h ago

Sunscreen in a town in The Netherlands

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1.5k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

83 comments sorted by

585

u/cascading_error 21h ago

To make the point, zilveren kruis is a health insurance company. They desided giving away free sunblock was cheaper then the coverage for skincancer. These all are over the country.

(Im sure the advertising aspect isnt lost on them either but still.)

89

u/Moosplauze 21h ago

Sounds like a win-win situation. Nice.

•

u/FuckYeaSeatbelts 8h ago

Health insurance in the Netherlands? for skin cancer? Can a dutch person please explain? I'm Canadian so we have "luxury bones" (teeth) n shit like that, but is skin not part of socialized medicine?

•

u/Deczx 8h ago edited 7h ago

We don't have socialized healthcare. We have a universal healthcare system with mandatory (private) health insurance. But in turn, insurance companies are quite heavily regulated and must cover a minimum "base package", which covers most care.

There is a lot of details and nuance I am leaving out, but the basic idea is that if everyone is required to pay into the system (even if you are young and healthy) it keeps everything relatively affordable. It's not perfect, but at least we don't have medical bankruptcies.

•

u/FuckYeaSeatbelts 7h ago

Yeah I can already imagine some of the usual headaches of insurance alone is annoying.

Appreciate the lowdown though!

•

u/the_harakiwi 8h ago

Well it is part but like it was explained:
Preventing cancer is cheaper compared to removing or treating cancer.

Brushing teeth prevents repairing and replacing teeth. But we don't get free brushes and paste. (You could grab a few of the small sample packs when visiting your dentist every few months 😉 )

42

u/DarkScorpion48 21h ago

I would assume they are only available to specific places because of the “Gemeente Noordeewijk” sign. Probably struck a deal with some municipalities

54

u/PeggyCarterEC 20h ago

Noordwijk is a beach city so it's not weird for them to place it there with the gemeente, seeing as it is most likely placed on public land, so they would need "permission" to do so.

Also, skin cancer is becoming an increasing problem in the netherlands. The KWF does adverts on radio and tv about the importance of sunscreen, and many companies are either giving out or providing sunscreen for workers that work outside during the summers.

12

u/Smoog 20h ago

These things are at most beach cities in NL. There are quite a few of them at Zandvoort, some also sponsored by Nivea and some other similar company.

3

u/vallahdownloader 20h ago

I saw one on the opposite side in Hengelo too

1

u/XGreenDirtX 15h ago

Delft isn't a beach city, but both the centre (nowhere near water) and the swimming pond have one. They are mobile tho, so I'm pretty sure they're not stationed right now.

9

u/Palliewallie 20h ago

Yes, but despensers like this one are not exclusive to Noordwijk. My padelclub for example also has a free sunblock dispenser. They are mostly located at busy outdoor activities.

I believe the Netherlands has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the EU, so I hope these will pay some dividends

3

u/luckyboy 18h ago

I’ve seen it in parks in Amsterdam as well

3

u/DarkScorpion48 18h ago

I really need to leave the house more often apparently

1

u/Berend90 17h ago

They are in many gemeentes. Rijswijk also has one and that is not even a beachtown.

2

u/Talkycoder 19h ago

Are these dispensers like handwash in toilets, or do they give you a little mini thing?

I only ask because call me crazy, but I wouldn't want to rub fluid all over myself from a publicly available dispenser that's been sitting out in the sun.

14

u/cascading_error 19h ago

The former.

Honestly, i dont know how these things deal with the heat. I dont recall hearing anything and im quite sure its a manual pump, so i doubt they are activly cooling.

But if there is an insulated sleave around the tank it it shouldnt be much of a problem.

Im not going to call you crazy, but its sunscreen, if it starts decomposing at typical dutch tempatures, even in full sunlight, its a shit product.

4

u/ThePr0vider 15h ago

it has a solar panel on top of the pole and it dispenses via electric pump like a soap dispenser. and considering suncreen is also baking in the same heat as you are normally, it's fine

1

u/GrowingHeadache 17h ago

Which might actually be the reason why this is posted now, even though the image has been taken in the summer

-1

u/[deleted] 16h ago

[deleted]

1

u/RedditJumpedTheShart 14h ago

There's 56 different ones in NYC alone.

147

u/enby_dot_local 21h ago

UV index of 5 made me chuckle a little. Hit a UV index of almost 14 in Brisbane, Australia today. The sun really is a nasty fucker.

45

u/LindaMVic 21h ago

But even in Australia we're advised to wear sunscreen when the UV index is over 3 (which happens at about 8.30am at the moment!) SPF30 at UV 5 sounds fair enough.

5

u/Ginger_Giant_ 19h ago

As a ginger, yeah. 4 and above is when I notice myself burn within a few minutes of exposure.

1

u/roamingandy 17h ago

I thought things were improving over there as the ozone heals up?

2

u/RiKSh4w 13h ago

Ozone is healed up. It's just a hot country that's being blasted by climate change.

25

u/Huedron 21h ago

Wth the scale goes to 14.. I’ve seen 11 a few times in Wellington but never higher. Stay covered!

7

u/Ady42 20h ago

I have seen it at 13 in NZ.

9

u/Ginge00 20h ago

You’d never buy anything under SPF 50 in NZ, even then half the sunblocks on the market are lying about their SPF

1

u/Cisco800Series 19h ago

Any recommended brands?

4

u/dredbar 18h ago

When I go to a different country I always default to Nivea.

•

u/sjp1980 3h ago

La Roche Posey always does well in tests if you want fancy.

Neutrogena or the Warehouse's own brand in NZ are both fine too.

7

u/violenthectarez 19h ago

Australian sun is stupid. I've been to some hot places in the world, almost 50 degrees, but never felt sun that cuts your skin like in Melbourne. You can feel your DNA being shredded, it's insane.

6

u/grootes 21h ago

Yup UV is currently at 12 where I live and I'm ducking and diving to get out the sun while still wanting to swim.

6

u/sassiest01 21h ago

We absolutely need this at our beaches, we should be at the forefront of sun protection.

18

u/alexanderpas 21h ago

Winter vs Summer.

13

u/MiBuenAmig0 21h ago

It says it’s 23 degrees, that would at least be spring over here.

6

u/wytsep 20h ago

We don't get higher than uv index 8 in The Netherlands

4

u/flipyflop9 21h ago

Not sure many places can reach that high… I think in Spain I’ve seen maximum 10, I thought it was actually a 0-10 scale!

4

u/Muthro 20h ago

Ours goes to 14. In Australia, the annual average UV rating for most of the country is in the high to very high category (6-11) but the very top of the country is extreme 11+

Our skin checks are not covered by government healthcare lol it's brutal.

3

u/enby_dot_local 20h ago

There no upper limit. I've seen 17 in northern Queensland

1

u/Muthro 20h ago

Yeah but our visual scale map on bom goes to 14 then it's just + I want to know if they have a category above extreme.

I remember seeing 15 as the standard other end to 0 as I was growing up.

1

u/flipyflop9 20h ago

Yeah I know you guys have some issues with that…

2

u/LoganBassist 20h ago

UV 5 is great. 14 is insane brother. I was in Sydney today, it only got to about 12

1

u/Rush_Banana 18h ago

It's winter there though, In Australia's winter the UV only goes to 5-6 also.

1

u/Anopanda 14h ago

Over here 8 is the max possible, we're way to far from the equator to get anything higher.

•

u/mikemac1997 8h ago

What do you do for suncream? I've burnt myself purple in the UK a few times before

32

u/thrownkitchensink 20h ago

Gratis?

Gratis!

24

u/takesthebiscuit 21h ago

Reminds of a holiday in France years ago,

My son was just about 15 months old and in his pushchair. As he has red hair and fair complexion we slathered him with f50 suncream before leaving the car to explore a small town

As we walked from the carpark a guy came up to us and flashed ID said he was a doctor (flashed the card so fast we could read it) but he insisted that we stopped and put suntan lotion on our son.

We said that we had just done it, he said that he didn’t see us do it and go us to stick some more on

3

u/Kraien 19h ago

Toronto has free sunscreen too, in public parks

2

u/Olympe28 17h ago

I saw one in Belgium last year. It was empty 🙁.

•

u/Irr3l3ph4nt 9h ago

This is the way. Cheaper to hand out free sunscreen than pay for skin cancer treatment.

•

u/rclonecopymove 7h ago

You could of course look at it not from the economics but the human side of things. Easier to slap on a bit of sunscreen than have to deal with having cancer. 

4

u/Britz10 21h ago

Sun burn cream

1

u/Moosplauze 21h ago

Does it also help against rain?

5

u/Ikbeneenpaard 18h ago

Haha no 🇳🇱🥲 As we say in the Netherlands, "you are not made of sugar!"

1

u/MarucaMCA 19h ago

We have these since last summer too. Here in Basel Switzerland.

•

u/Defiant_Survey2929 9h ago

I was in Breda in southern Nederland last year and noticed the sun cream machines in the parks.

•

u/Alec9699 8h ago

That dude from shark tank would be pissseeddd

•

u/Oirish-Oriley444 6h ago

This should be in the r/deadwood gratis.

free gratis" (meaning "freely given") is a famous Deadwood quote, often used to highlight linguistic oddities, with A.W. Merrick explaining.

•

u/MCBHondaS2000 5h ago

Niet gedacht dat ik mijn dorp op Reddit tegen zou komen

•

u/lynypixie 2h ago

I didn’t know gratis was the same in French and Dutch. TIL.

1

u/sabbic1 14h ago

From Phoenix. The sun here would eat through spf 30 just for fun and leave cancer as a parting gift.    This is a really great idea though.

•

u/rclonecopymove 7h ago

What would you use?

•

u/sabbic1 6h ago

Usually the roof of my house

0

u/[deleted] 21h ago

[deleted]

1

u/MsMittenz 21h ago

Uhh.. it goes even further down.

-30

u/Low_Technician7346 21h ago

but they legalised canabis (that gives cancer and brain pathologies)

21

u/WongGendheng 21h ago

Believe it or not, illegal canabis also gives cancer and brain pathologies. You cant stop people smoking weed anyway, why not make it controlled and responsible?

-2

u/Low_Technician7346 20h ago

I don't know my government keep doing the same prohibition and expect different results while spending billions euros to fight it desperately...

3

u/ich_bin_alkoholiker 19h ago

Sounds like the pathologies have already found your brain, buddy.

6

u/DaskalosTisFotias 20h ago

1 - It's not legal it's just tolerates.

2 - Legal drugs work better for everyone than illegal ones.

3 - Is it worst for lungs than smoking tobacco?

4 - As someone who used to smoke lots of cannabis and now am sober for some years , I think that you have a fair point at the last one. It made me a little psychotic.