BMJ 2003;326:114-115 ( 18 January )

Editorials

Preventing skin cancer

Messages should emphasise the need to cover up and stay out of the sun

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Health promotion strategies to prevent deaths from skin cancer, particularly melanoma, have two components: advice on early recognition and advice on prevention. The population is perhaps heeding advice on early recognition. Five year survival from melanoma in England and Wales is improving, particularly in female patients,1 probably because the cancer is diagnosed at an earlier stage owing to increased public awareness. But the incidence of melanoma is increasing in the United Kingdom and the United States; 1 2 in the United Kingdom it has doubled over the past 20 years.1 This contrasts with a falling incidence in Australia,3 but it is not clear whether this difference is attributable to the Australian prevention campaign having been active for longer or whether prevention messages are less effective in the United Kingdom. By 1996, attitudes among Australian students had already shifted positively towards avoiding exposure to the sun and away from the use of sunscreen and desire . . . [Full text of this article]
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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Garland, C. F (2003). More on preventing skin cancer: Sun avoidance will increase incidence of cancers overall. BMJ 327: 1228-1228 [Full text]  
  • Burry, J. N (2003). Cover up and stay out of sun to prevent skin cancer. BMJ 326: 1148-1148 [Full text]  

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