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Australia's SunSmart campaign working to reduce skin cancer prevalence

Xinhua, March 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world but public health campaigns that started in the 1980s have begun to slow its prevalence in younger people, a leading expert told Xinhua on Thursday.

Professor Rod Sinclair, a senior dermatologist at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne's Epworth Hospital, said the incidence and prevalence of non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) now accounted for 88 percent of all cancer diagnoses in Australia.

He urged the Australian government to add it to the Australian cancer registry to ensure "you're doing everything you can as a nation to stop skin cancer."

The research, led by Craig Sinclair and published in the Australian Journal of Dermatology, evaluated and collated previous researches to confirm public health campaigns and new advancement in sun care are working.

Amongst those under the age of 60, the numbers of new cases have remained stable, while NMSC treatment rates are declining in patients under the age of 45 - the beneficiaries of SunSmart campaigns like "Slip, Slop, Slap."

"What we know about skin cancers is that the skin cancers that develop today often developed five, 10, 20, 30 years earlier," he said. "So when you start a public health campaign, it's going to take you 10, 20, 30 years to realize the benefits."

NMSC is one of the most expensive cancers to treat, rising by 40 percent in the past five years to cost the Australian economy almost half a billion U.S. dollars per annum.

However, Sinclair said the problem is less likely to occur in Asian ethnic groups where a cultural preference for lighter skin that has produced sun-safe behavior is combined with some natural skin resistance.

"The message has got through to the Asians very well about protecting themselves from the sun, both that the sun can cause the skin to age prematurely and the risk of skin cancers." Endi