We Australians are leaders in many things we shouldn’t be, like our climbing obesity rates or per-capita carbon emissions. As it is with a lot of things like this the causes are readily preventable and it is up to us to take action in order to ensure that we lose our world leader status in these less-than-desirable categories. However there is one issue that, even despite years of campaigning and education programs, we Australians just never seem to get: we are the most likely people in the world to get skin cancer. This is an almost entirely preventable condition, one that requires almost no effort to ensure that you’re highly unlikely to suffer from it.
The video below shows just how effective sunscreen is at doing it’s cancer preventing job, blocking harmful UV rays:
Now the shocking discovery of UV freckles that many of the people in this video saw isn’t necessarily a bad thing (those are simply concentrated spots of melanin, your skin’s natural defence mechanism) however the application of sunscreen, as well as the glasses appearing to be opaque, should drive home the message that sunscreen does indeed work as advertised. UVA and UVB are both completely blocked by your regular over the counter sunscreens, providing full protection against the damaging rays of the sun. Sunglasses are also a vital if you’re spending a lot of time outdoors as continued exposure can lead to things like cataracts.
I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here but honestly when our incident rate of melanoma and other skin cancers is this high I feel it bears repeating. We’re a nation of people who love our beaches, sports and the outdoors and there’s really no reason that we should subject ourselves to unnecessary risks like this. Really taking 5 minutes to lather yourself up before hitting the beach isn’t a big ask and it could save you years of pain down the line.
You don’t have to end up as a statistic.
