MPs have supported the charity Melanoma Focus and its ‘Know your skin: Be smart about skin cancer’ campaign to raise awareness of melanoma skin cancer.

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and is in the top five most commonly diagnosed cancers in the UK, killing 2,333 people per year. It is becoming more common in the UK with around 16,700 new cases every year (46 every day). Yet 86% of melanomas are preventable.

MPs met melanoma patients and clinicians at an event hosted by Chris Bryant MP in the House of Commons on 24 May to support Melanoma Awareness Month and highlight the dangers of excessive sun and UV exposure. 

Melanoma Focus is a national charity which provides sun safety information for the public and medical professionals, as well as supporting education and promoting research about melanoma.

At the event, MPs met with melanoma skin cancer specialists and patients with first-hand experience of melanoma. They heard about the concerning spike in melanoma skin cancer cases in the UK and the increasing importance of symptom awareness and skin protection for people in all areas of the country.

Chris Bryant MP was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma skin cancer in 2019 and became a Patron of Melanoma Focus shortly afterwards. 

Susanna Daniels, CEO of Melanoma Focus, said: “We were very pleased to welcome so many MPs to our ‘Know your skin: Be smart about skin cancer’ campaign event. We are using Melanoma Awareness Month to encourage people across the country to protect themselves from melanoma and be aware about potential symptoms. Melanoma skin cancer is the 5th most common cancer in the UK, yet it is largely preventable,

“The key advice is for everyone to wear SPF 30+ sunscreen when they are exposed to the sun, avoid sunbeds and to contact their GP if they notice any unusual looking or changing moles and lesions on their skin,

“We would like to thank all the MPs who attended for supporting our campaign.”

How to support Melanoma Awareness Month

Melanoma Focus is encouraging the public to support its Know Your Skin campaign by helping raise awareness on social media. You can get involved by following the three simple steps below:

1. Follow Melanoma Focus on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to keep up to date with the campaign.

2. Share the Melanoma social media posts using the hashtag #knowyourskin (remembering to tag Melanoma Focus)

3. Add the Melanoma Focus awareness stickers to your Instagram stories by searching for ‘melanomaawareness’ in the sticker bar.

For more information about Melanoma Focus, visit melanomafocus.org.