By Abdellatif Sharaa
KUWAIT: Cancer Aware Nation (C.A.N) organized a virtual workshop on skin cancer themed "your summer is safe." The workshop dealt with risk factors and treatment. Chairman of the Board of C.A.N Dr Khalid Ahmad Al-Saleh moderated. He said the C.A.N campaign took the responsibility since its founding in 2006 to raise the awareness rate about cancers in general, through several programs and initiatives that aim at informing the public about the risk factors, causes and treatment, and to discover cancer diseases early to increase recovery rates, and hope to get them to 70 percent through early detection.
Dermatologist Jihan Raji, who gave the first lecture, spoke about the various types of skin cancer, adding that despite its various types, not all changes on the skin are cancerous, and the only way to determine that is a doctor's examination. She said the doctor should be consulted when new spots appear on the skin, or suspicious changes or appearance, as well as if a wound does not heal within two weeks. She said the most common skin cancer in Kuwait is the squamous cell carcinoma, which is caused by a lengthy exposure to ultraviolet rays.
Dermatologist and cosmetic dermatology surgeon Ibrahim Al-Aradi presented a study he conducted at Asaad Al-Hamad center on Kuwaitis in 2002 and 2003. The study found out that non-Kuwaitis are more at risk of getting cancer, particularly those from the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula, adding that the age range of those getting cancer vary between 40-70 year. He said light skinned persons are more likely to get skin cancer.
Consultant dermatologist at Jahra Hospital Shireen Helmi spoke about the importance of preventive health awareness and facing skin cancer. She said awareness is very important in prevention and to combat skin cancer. She said that among other things, immune suppressant drugs, those with transplanted organs, and AIDS patients are at risk of getting skin cancer. She added that exposure to chemicals, insecticides, arsenic, selenium, chronic blisters, smoking, alcohol, vitamin D deficiency are all risk factors of getting skin cancer. She also advised those with light skin, and the red haired to avoid long exposure to sun rays because they are more prone to skin cancer than others.