derma.plus, the platform for dermatological advice, has conducted an international study on skin cancer to better understand the geographical and socio-economic factors which make incidences of the disease more common in certain regions more frequently than others.
Investigating 62 countries across the globe this study aims to draw attention to a various array factors influencing skin cancer cases, concerning prevalence and treatment in many different parts of the world.
Divided into two sections, the International Skin Cancer Index can be divided into the Skin Cancer Susceptibility Index and the Socio-Economic Treatment Index. The first index analyses the UV factor, the average population skin-tone and the rate of incidences from a range of countries to identify geographically where the highest rates of skin cancer are most likely to occur. The latter, cross references national health spending, access to treatment and individual income against mortality rates to better understand the efforts undertaken worldwide to combat the disease.
“Incidence of both non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers has increased dramatically over the past decades,” states Professor Dietrich Abeck, chief medical advisor for derma.plus. “This study is indicative that a high level of UV exposure, coupled with a lighter skin tone (as calculated by the Fitzpatrick-Scale) led to a higher diagnosis of skin cancer. However, on the other hand, the index reveals that countries such as New Zealand and Australia, which have some of the highest incidences of skin cancer, also have some of the lowest death rates due to high levels of health expenditure.”
Taking into account the fact that skin cancer claims a life every 10 minutes, the study aims to highlight the precautions that can be taken across the world to combat the disease. Death rates from this disease have doubled since 1990 and stakeholders such as the World Health Organisation are struggling cope with the magnitude of cases and inequality of international medical care.
Although the rate at which skin cancer occurs may be high in countries with a combination of light skin tone and high UV exposure, adequate health care spending appears to be effective in keeping the mortality rate lower than in countries with fewer diagnoses and less funding for skin cancer prevention.
[link url="https://derma.plus/en/skin-cancer-index-2018/"]Skin Cancer Index 2018[/link]