Last May 22, an informative conference on the prevention of skin cancer was held at the Hotel Mencey in the capital city of Tenerife. The conference, which was open to the public, was organized by the Dermatology Service at Hospiten Rambla and sponsored by Laboratorio Avène with the aim of informing the public about the risks of skin cancer, the importance of early diagnosis and prevention.
Dr Lucia Pimentel, co-ordinator of the Hospiten Rambla Dermatology Service, gave a conference on the “warning signs of skin cancer”, putting special emphasis on prevention and early diagnosis. Mariona Jimenez Bau, Pharmacist and Trainer at Laboratorios Avène, spoke about “solar ultraviolet radiation” and gave advice on protecting the skin.
Skin cancer is becoming more and more common and the best way to prevent skin tumors is to be careful with the sun’s UV radiation, particularly in the Canaries. For that reason, one must do regular checks for possible skin lesions, especially in people at greater risk, for example those who do outdoor sports, those whose work involves chronic exposure to the sun and those whose family have a history of skin cancer, have had previous melanomas, have a weakened immune system, have had severe sunburn, have very fair skin or a lot of moles.
The conference forms part of the educational campaign of melanoma prevention that Hospiten carries out every year to coincide with the start of the summer season and longer exposure to the sun.