Skin cancer awareness increasing - but so is the number of cases

Young people are being increasingly careful not to excessively expose themselves to the sun, but more remained to be done to reduce the number of Melanoma skin cancers, the head of the health promotion unit, Charmaine Gauci, said this morning.

She said that the number of Melanoma cases was continuing to rise - but early detection was also on the increase as more people went to their doctors upon spotting any unusual, dark, irregular shaped mole.

Dr Gauci was speaking at Boffa Hospital where International Melanoma Monday was marked with screening for Melanoma - the most common type of skin cancer.

Dr Lawrence Scerri, head of the Dermatology Department, said that all 100 spots reserved for today's event were booked within an hour of the press conference announcing the event. two weeks ago. He stressed that such screening services were available throughout the year and people should go to their general practitioners, who would refer them for screening if necessary.

Health Minister Joe Cassar said that while local incidence levels of Melanoma were not alarming, numbers were on the increase and more people needed to take precautions to avoid this form of cancer. He said that families were increasingly realising that they should not spend whole days under the sun at the beach, and they should certainly stay in the shade between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Precautions, he said, should also be taken by those people who worked in the sun - including high factor sun protection lotions and wearing a hat.

Children of up to a year should not be taken out in the sun at all, he added.

See also

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100505/local/incidence-of-melanoma-on-the-increase