Comunicancer will advise the Ministry of Health on skin cancer prevention.

Writing / Irene Vega

The Comunicancer project, led by Professor Ángeles Moreno, will support the Ministry of Health in the development of a guide for skin cancer prevention. This work will involve collaboration with the main medical associations and societies dedicated to the prevention of this disease in Spain.

These associations are part of the Comunicancer network and are beneficiaries of the Compreven(P)cancer project, led by the URJC and funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the State Research Agency. This scientific project in Spanish has been the first to focus specifically on sun protection in the high-risk group of young Spaniards from a multidisciplinary perspective. To this end, two dimensions have been addressed: on the one hand, monitoring the knowledge, attitudes, and habits of the population studied in terms of protection; and, on the other hand, studying and evaluating strategic communication on sun photoprevention. The results of these studies empirically demonstrate that Strategic prevention communication is very effective If it is based on scientific knowledge and professionalized with public relations from health experts.

Professors Ángeles Moreno and Cristina Fuentes of the URJC Advanced Studies in Communication Group recently met with Héctor Tejero, head of Health and Climate Change in the Ministry of Health's office, and other experts to initiate cooperation and promote effective skin cancer prevention practices in Spain. The results of the Compreven(P)cancer project were presented during the workshop.

From left to right: David Boyarizo, Héctor Tejero, Ángeles Moreno and Cristina Fuentes Lara

This meeting also featured a presentation from Australia by Craig Sinclair, Director of Prevention at Cancer Council Victoria and also Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Ultraviolet Radiation. Dr. Sinclair, a current collaborator with the URJC team, shared his lessons learned from international prevention best practices.

A comprehensive national skin cancer prevention plan

The cooperation with the Ministry of Health will, for the first time in Spain, address a comprehensive prevention plan to address the skin cancer epidemic. These actions will require the involvement of experts from various scientific disciplines and a more extensive work plan to align Spain with other countries that have already achieved a reduction in the incidence, prevalence, and mortality of skin cancer.

These actions are a priority to address a serious public health problem, since the global skin cancer epidemic poses a high risk to the lives and health of citizens and simultaneously entails significant risks to health systems themselves. The World Health Organization has warned that skin cancer is one of the most common malignancies globally. It is estimated that by 2040, melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer, will increase by more than 50%, doubling mortality and causing crises in health systems due to the high cost of treatment. These data have been published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), affiliated with the WHO.

Spain is a country with high solar radiation, the main cause of skin cancer, which is already in an epidemiological situation. In 2024 alone, 20.854 new cases were recorded: 6.070 melanomas with 1.113 associated deaths and 14.784 non-melanoma skin cancers with 769 associated deaths. Since 2012, there has been a constant and significant increase in the disease in our country, according to the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC). Both the incidence and mortality from skin cancer will inevitably continue to rise unless urgently curbed. The only way to successfully address this public health problem is through comprehensive prevention programs.