Residents of the Netherlands will receive free sunscreen this summer as part of a public health campaign to tackle the country’s record number of skin cancers.
Sunscreen dispensers will become available in schools and universities, at festivals, parks, sports venues and public spaces across the country.
Officials hope the initiative will enable everyone to access needed sun protection without being hampered by cost.
The campaign was rolled out last weekend at a festival in the city of Breda, in the southwest of the country, according to public broadcaster NOS.
The Venlo-Venray Hospital, in the southeast, close to the German border, is also reportedly working with national health insurance companies to fund the provision of sunscreen to 120 primary schools.
Sunscreen dispensers will be made available at schools and universities, at festivals, parks, sporting venues and open public spaces across the country, the Dutch government said. Pictured crowds on the beach of Zandvoort in the Netherlands on June 10, 2023
A spokesperson for the clinic said one of the dermatologists came up with the idea of converting dispensers set up to dispense hand sanitizer during the pandemic into sunscreen, NOS reported.
Alderman Jacco Knape of the seaside resort of Katwijk in the west of the country also said: ‘It costs some money, but we consider the health of the people of paramount importance.
‘We regularly see people enjoying the sun but not protecting themselves and because Katwijk gets an above average amount of sun, that’s not good.’
The three most common types of skin cancer are melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
Experts warn that the cancer can form in the ear, eye, under your fingernails, or even in your buttocks.
One in six people in the Netherlands is diagnosed with some form of skin cancer, health officials say.
There are three types of skin cancer. Each can present itself in different ways. These include moles that are asymmetrical or abnormal, scaly or dark patches, and waxy bumps on the surface of the skin
The Netherlands also ranks fourth for melanoma skin cancer rates, after Australia, New Zealand and Denmark, according to the World Cancer Research Fund International, with an age-standardized rate of 27 per 100,000.
It is hoped that “significant” health care savings will be made by reducing the number of skin cancer cases in the country, officials said.
Central Europe experienced unusually high temperatures this weekend and the warm weather will continue for the coming months.
But last year, the Health Council – the Dutch independent scientific advisory body – advised against the introduction of a national population screening for skin cancer.
Instead, it advised attention to information provision and behavioral change.
In a report to the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Council states that there is no scientific evidence that such a population study would be useful.
“The added value of a population screening is expected to be low as many cases are detected at an early stage and the mortality rate is low,” it wrote.
In the UK, death rates from melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – have risen by 219 per cent in men and 76 per cent in women since 1973, Cancer Research UK found last year.
Each year around 15,400 people are diagnosed with melanoma in the UK, making it the fifth most common cancer in the UK.
The incidence of malignant melanoma in Britain has risen faster than any other common cancer.
In the US, there are about 5.4 million cases of skin cancer each year, with 9,500 people dying from the disease.