Half of Australians are still getting sunburnt despite cancer risk

Half of Australians surveyed are still getting sunburnt at least once a year and nearly nine in 10 don’t wear enough sunscreen, AMA (NSW) President, Dr Saxon Smith, said.

“Australians well know the cancer risks of exposure to the sun and how they need to protect themselves from it but my research has found some key areas we need to improve.

“Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in Australia and we need to do more to reduce our risk of developing the disease.

“The best way is to make sure you don’t get sunburnt and you can do that by wearing a hat, sunglasses, protective clothing, sunscreen and seeking shade during peak UV times,” Dr Smith said.

“This goes for any time of year – we live in Australia and we have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world – anytime you’re in the sun you should be thinking about sun protection.

“I surveyed hundreds of people and found nearly all of them use sunscreen in summer but that drops to only half of them in spring and even less in autumn and winter.

“The sun can damage your skin, or even burn you, outside of summer.

“UV Rays don’t take holidays just because the weather is cooler outside.

“Whilst the sun may not be as intense, UV Rays are still significant, adding to your cumulative exposure and lifetime risk of skin cancer as well as sun ageing.

“It’s better to be safe and protect yourself from the sun,” Dr Smith said.

“Alarmingly, my study also found that one in five people never apply sunscreen.

“Of those who do, only one in three reapplied it every two hours and a similar number of people don’t check the expiry date on their sunscreen.

“This is made worse by the fact that more than half of the people surveyed don’t know that storing sunscreen in temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius will damage it.

“If you’re using burnt out sunscreen, either because it’s expired or been cooked, you will not get the SPF rating that’s listed on the bottle,” Dr Smith said.

“When I talk about skin cancer, I’m not just talking about melanoma.

“Melanoma is a very deadly form of skin cancer but there are many different types of skin cancer and they can take various forms and colours.

“People should be seeing their family doctor or dermatologist for regular scalp to sole skin checks to make sure, if there are any potentially cancerous lesions, they are dealt with quickly,” Dr Smith said.

Dr Smith will be sharing more of his findings at the Skin Hospital (121 Crown Street Darlinghurst) today at 1pm.

Media contact: Lachlan Jones (02) 9902 8113 / 0419 402 955