Danish women top skin cancer
Baku, December 7 (AZERTAC).Young Danish women now hold an unfortunate world record with the highest number of cases of birthmark cancer - malignant melanoma - per capita. This is shown by an analysis of cases of malignant melanoma among 15-39-year-old women in every country in the world in 2008. The figures come from the WHO cancer database GLOBACAN. "It doesn`t have to be like this. Most cases of malignant melanoma could actually be avoided if we took more care in the sun and avoided solariums," says Anja Philip, head of the Danish Cancer Society`s and TrygFonden`s sun campaign. In all, more than 1,800 Danes develop malignant melanoma every year. Nearly 200 of them are young women under the age of 39, and that figure is growing year by year. According to these new figures, Denmark now has more cases than sunny countries like Australia and New Zealand. A total of 24 per 100,000 people, 15-39-year old Danish women, develop malignant melanoma. By comparison, in Australia, number two on the list, this figure is 21. In Sweden and Germany, the risk of developing malignant melanoma is less than half as great as in Denmark, with 11 cases per 100,000 people. According to head of project Line Rasmussen of the Danish Cancer Society, the reason for the Danish first place is a combination of the Danes` love of the sun here in Denmark and abroad and their use of solariums. The Danish Cancer Society is calling for legislation in the area and especially that solariums be prohibited for people under 18. Countries like France, Scotland and Germany have already introduced this age limit.