To raise public awareness of the risk factors for skin cancer, the League Against Cancer has just launched a campaign in which it warns about sun risks and challenges some preconceived ideas about summer exposure and sunburn.
While the summer season is in full swing and the French have arrived or are leaving for sunny destinations, the League Against Cancer wishes to raise public awareness of the risks associated with prolonged exposure to the sun without protection, and recalls that overexposure during childhood are the main risk factor for skin cancer. Several preventive actions with populations have just been launched, as well asa poster and alert campaign on social networks.
Limit exposure times and avoid blows at all costs. #Sunespecially in early childhood because they promote the occurrence of #melanomas and #carcinomas basal cells.
More info on ???? https://t.co/CfvGOYzXS3 pic.twitter.com/G4BHlKzUvC— the League against cancer (@laliguecancer) July 26, 2019
Put an end to overexposure to the sun
Skin cancers are the most frequent cancers with nearly 80,000 new cases per year in France, including nearly 11,176 melanomas. According to the League Against Cancer, they are also among those who have increased the most over the past fifty years. And the incidence of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, doubles every 10 years in populations with white skin.
However, these skin cancers are among the preventable cancers. Hence the need to limit exposure times and avoid sunburn. 40% of French people think that well-treated childhood sunburns are of no consequence in adulthood. This is false: the League thus recalls that sunburns caught before the age of 15 promote the occurrence of melanomas and basal cell carcinomas.
Twisting the neck of received ideas, the association for the fight against cancer is also mobilizing against UV cabins: 24% of French people wrongly believe that doing UV before going on vacation helps protect their skin and prepare it for the sun. Finally, 21% believe that sunburn prepares the skin by making it less vulnerable to the sun.
To find out about good practices in terms of exposure to the sun, the League Against Cancer has published a small guide to put in the hands of young and old. She reminds us to avoid the sun between noon and 4 p.m., to limit the exposure of young children, to remember to cover up or regularly apply sunscreen.
The importance of screening
Beyond the risks associated with exposure to the sun, the League also insists on the need to have your moles examined regularly: skin melanoma can be cured if diagnosed early. On the other hand, if the diagnosis is late, the chances of cure are considerably reduced because it is a cancer which spreads quickly.
Don’t let skin cancer end your story. Get checked out. ??
???? https://t.co/CfvGOYzXS3 pic.twitter.com/r4tErIdwBy— the League against Cancer (@laliguecancer) July 19, 2019
The campaign, whose message is “Don’t let skin cancer end your story. Get checked out”, is available now on social media.
.
