Be Proactive About Protecting Your Skin

According to the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), South Africa has the second-highest incidence of skin cancer in the world after Australia, and one of the highest incidences of melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer – worldwide. Every year, at least 20 000 South Africans are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancers – cancers that occur in the skin that are not melanoma – and approximately 1 500 are diagnosed with melanoma. Skin cancer – a highly preventable and treatable disease is caused by chronic exposure to sunlight and affects anyone, regardless of skin colour, gender or age. This Skin Cancer Awareness Month – from 1 December to 31 January – be sun smart and educate yourself about the dangers of the sun and its rays. 

Ultraviolet rays (UVA and UVB) reach the earth’s surface and are damaging to the skin. UVB is responsible for producing sunburn and can cause sunburn within fifteen minutes, causing permanent damage, while UVA rays can contribute to ageing the skin and DNA damage. Damage from both UVA and UVB rays can lead to skin cancer. There are two main types of skin cancer: melanoma and non-melanoma. The most common non-melanoma tumours are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Melanoma of the skin is the 19th most commonly occurring cancer in men and women. There were nearly 300,000 new cases in 2018. The top 20 countries with the highest rates of melanoma of the skin in 2018 are given in the tables below. Non-melanoma skin cancer is the 5th most commonly occurring cancer in men and women, with over 1 million diagnoses worldwide in 2018, although this is likely to be an underestimate.

Skin cancer represents a particular challenge for estimating incidence for several reasons. There are multiple sub-types of skin cancer, which can present problems when collating data. For example, non-melanoma skin cancer is often not tracked by cancer registries, or registrations of this cancer are often incomplete because most cases are successfully treated via surgery or ablation.

Click here to read more: https://cansa.org.za/be-sunsmart/

Click here for leaflet: file:///C:/Users/u19409746/Pictures/CANSA-SunSmart-A5-Leaflets.pdf