Free skin cancer check-ups

DERMATOLOGISTS are offering patients a free check-up next Monday to mark European Melanoma Day.

The Cyprus Dermatological and Venereal Disease Society yesterday announced that on May 30 as part of the European campaign, dermatologists would carry out free check-ups at specific clinics to look for possible skin problems as a result of exposure to the sun. Patients must book in advance for a free appointment.

Cypriot dermatologists, like their European counterparts, will inform the public of the damages that can be caused from over exposure to the sun’s rays.

The aim is to identify the likelihood of skin cancer on a patient at an early stage, while also informing and raising awareness of the need for protection from the sun.
“This social contribution of the Cypriot dermatologists has to do with the huge increase of skin cancer and malignant melanoma in the last few years,” said the Society.

According to experts, it is estimated that 50-80 per cent of damage from exposure to sun appears during childhood and adolescence while 90 per cent of skin cancer is a result of sun exposure.

The Society highlighted that getting sun burnt before the age of 15 significantly increased the dangers of melanoma later on in adult life.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.