• The ‘Campaign of prevention of skin cancer. Summer 2007’ is presented with the aim of making population aware of the risks of excessive sunstroke and offer advice for sunbathing.

Mr.Antoni Plasència, general manager of Public Health of the Health Department, Mr.Josep Maria Borràs, manager of the Oncology Director Plan, Mr.Joaquim Esperalba, general manager of the Institut Català d’Oncologia (ICO), and Ms.Mercè Peris, director of Prevention and community Programmes (also ICO’s), presented this morning, at the ICO see in Hospitalet de Llobregat, the ‘Campaign of prevention of skin cancer. Summer 2007’. Its objective is to warn people about the dangers of a long exposure to sun rays and give advice for safe sunbathing.

In this case, 525,000 issues of the leaflet ‘Sun-protection measures for children and youths’ have been re-printed in Catalan and Spanish. A poster named ‘Let’s protect ourselves from the sun’ has also been designed. This material lists the basic preventive recommendations of sun protection meant mainly for children, teenagers and youths.

The triptychs and the posters will be distributed in primary assistance centres, paediatrician surgeries, chemist’s, education centres, entities of fight against cancer, summer camps and sports centres.

Skin cancer

It has been proven that too much exposure to the sun is the most important risk factor of skin cancer, both melanoma and non-melanoma. More than 80% of the cases of skin cancer could be prevented by avoiding long exposures to the sun and skin burnings, especially during childhood and adolescence.

• Melanoma: it is the most agressive one and is associated to sunburnings. It is a little frequent illness but with high morbidity and mortalitaty. 740 cases are diagnosed every year and it is 1.2% of all tumours among men and 1.6% among women. In the last few years a continuous increase in the incidence of about 5% in men and 4% in women has been observed.

• Non-melanoma cancer: it is associated to accumulated exposure to the sun throughout all life and it appears in the most exposed parts of the body. They are 95% of all skin cancers but they imply little mortality.

Protection measures

In order to enjoy sun healthily, we must:
• Start sunbathing gradually and avoid long exposures and the high intensity hours –from 12:00 to 16:00-.
• Wear t-shirts and cotton clothes, a cap or a wide-brim hat in order to protect the neck and the ears as well. We must wear homologued sunglasses, preferably with a side-band.
• Use cream with high sun protection factor (higher than 20). Apply it in big quantity, a while before the exposure and periodically after bathing or after sewating a lot.
• Drink water to avoid dehydration and avoid sunbathing if you are taking photosensitive medicines.
We must also take into account
• That the fact of not being hot does not mean that we are not going to be sunburnt. Sunburns are due to exposure to ultraviolet rays whereas the thermal effect is due to infrared radiation.
• In the same way, the fact that it is cloudy does not prevent from sunburns.
• The use of photoprotector products can not be considered a safe way to protect skin nor a means to lengthen the exposure to sun.
• Long exposures cause damage and skin ageing as well as premature wrinkles. It also afects the eyes and it can alter the inmunity system.
• Sun ray lamps and beds can also be dangerous due to the emission of ultraviolet radiation.
• On the beach, the sand and the water reflect light thus increasing the sun’s intensity. The same is true for the mountains: the higher we are the more intense the sun is and snow also reflects the sun’s rays.

In the ‘Campaign of prevention of skin cancer. Summer2007’ participate: the Department of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan Society of Paediatrics, the section of Public Health and Consumption of the Diputació de Barcelona, Barcelona’s City Council, the Public Health Agency of Barcelona, the College of Chemists of Barcelona, the Catalan Federation of Entities of Fight against Cancer, Youth Tourism of Catalonia, the Foundation of Summer Camps, the Foundation Pere Tarrés and the Pierre Fabré Laboratory.