Belgians’ knowledge about the dangers of the sun for the skin is decreasing. This was evident on Wednesday from the UV monitor 2023 of the Foundation against Cancer. The organization points out that skin cancer is the most common cancer in our country and worldwide.
About one in three of all cancers discovered today are some type – melanoma or non-melanoma – of skin cancer. This makes skin cancer the most common cancer worldwide and in Belgium. One in five people will be confronted with skin cancer before the age of 75. A large proportion of skin cancers can be prevented by properly protecting yourself against the UV rays of the sun or tanning bed.
The monitor that the Foundation against Cancer carries out every two years into the knowledge, attitude and behavior of Belgians in connection with UV protection, shows that knowledge about the dangers of the sun’s rays is decreasing, despite the feeling of better to be informed.
For example, people are more often convinced that applying once a day is sufficient and the myth that you first have to burn to get a better tan is reappearing more often. It is striking that those over 44 are clearly better informed about the myths than those under 35. Young people and men remain the groups that are the least well informed.
Based on the monitor, the number of Belgians who were severely burned by the sun was 10 percent, compared to only 2 percent in 2011. This percentage continues to rise, especially among young people between 16 and 24 years old. For example, 77.5 percent indicated that they had been burned in 2023, of which 27 percent were severely burned. That is not a positive development, because a study by NIH shows that five serious burns between the ages of 15 and 20 increases the risk of melanoma by 80 percent.
From the age of 25, people are very well informed about the measures and the risk of skin cancer. Yet one in three respondents under the age of 44 indicate that they would rather get sunburned than return from holiday without a tan. It is positive that Belgians seem to use the sunbed less frequently. The number of tanning bed users is stagnating at the low level of 2021 (9 percent).
In response to the new figures, the Foundation Against Cancer calls on the government to give higher priority to the prevention of skin cancer and to act quickly on this. For example, the organization advocates greater focus on primary prevention and the development of a strategy for early detection of skin cancer.
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Tags: Knowledge danger sun skin decreasing Foundation Cancer
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