Skin Cancer – A Word From Marie Curie Cancer Care

Don’t
get caught out

– Marie
Curie Cancer Care, NatWest and Lloydspharmacy keeping Britain sun safe this summer
–

 

This year,
more than 8,000 men and women in the UK are likely to be
diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer* and
many could lose their lives – in 2003 it claimed the lives of 1,817
UK people**.

 

Marie Curie
Cancer Care has teamed up with NatWest and Lloydspharmacy to raise awareness of
the dangers of sun exposure and the importance of using an SPF of 15 or above.
The ‘Sun Safety – Don’t Get Caught Out Campaign’ also aims to raise funds for
pioneering skin cancer research being undertaken at the Marie Curie Research
Institute.

 

The campaign
is driven through NatWest’s sponsorship of the cricket – the NatWest
International Twenty20s and the NatWest Pro40. At these matches, sun safety
booths provide free sun cream donated by Lloydspharmacy. NatWest has already
raised close to £15,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care in the space of just two
Twenty20 games and three One Day Internationals.

 

Paul
Collingwood, captain of the one-day squad for the series against the
West Indies, is supporting the
campaign.

“I’m a huge
fan of the work of Marie Curie Cancer Care. Their nurses do a fantastic job and
their skin cancer research is world-class. Being outside for long periods of
time means I have to be sun safe – it’s so important not to get caught
out.”

 

Stewart
Vaughan (28), captain of Dorking FC in Surrey, died in April
from skin cancer. He had been
married to his partner Heidi Cooke (27) of Purley, for just five weeks. Stewart
was cared for at home by the Marie Curie Community Hospice Team and
later received nursing and medical support at the Marie Curie unit
of the North Downs
Hospital.

 

Heidi is now
supporting the ‘Sun Safety – Don’t Get Caught Out Campaign’ and is urging
everyone – young and old, sports fans and others – to wear sun
cream.

“People aren’t
aware of the dangers of the sun and therefore don’t protect themselves against
it. I want to make sure everyone knows that sun exposure comes with the risk of
skin cancer. I think people assume it will never happen to them but it happened
to my Stewart.”

 

There are some
simple steps to being sun safe this summer – it’s easy to follow Marie Curie
Cancer Care’s sun CARE code:

• Cover up by wearing
  a hat, t-shirt and sunglasses
• Avoid the sun
  between the hours of 11am and
  3pm when it is at its
  most dangerous
• Remember to use a
  minimum of SPF 15 sunscreen, apply generously and reapply every two
  hours.
• Ensure that
  children are adequately protected, because their skin is more delicate and prone
  to sunburn.

 

Nick
Mortimer, Superintendent Pharmacist at Lloydspharmacy said: “It is an
established fact that excessive exposure to the sun will damage your skin,
prematurely age it and double your risk of developing skin cancer later in life.
When you or your family plan to spend time outside over the summer, you should
always protect your skin. That’s why Lloydspharmacy is supporting the ‘Sun
Safety – Don’t Get Caught Out’ campaign – to encourage everybody to wear high
factor sun lotion while they are out enjoying themselves.”

* Cancer Research
UK

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/incidence/commoncancers/

 

**Cancer
Research UK,
UK Mortality,
2005

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/melanoma/mortality/