CANCER SHOCK

Skin cancer cases soar by 40% in just four years

By Alberto Lejarraga

SHOCK new figures show that the number of skin cancer patients has risen by 40% in Spain in the past four years.

According to the Spanish Academy of Dermatology, over 78,000 cases are diagnosed every year, which means that 120 individuals in every 100,000 people suffer from skin cancer.

Within these figures, experts explain that 12 in every 100,000 individuals have Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer.

However, they warn that in 2040, this form of skin cancer, which is by far the most dangerous, will become the second most common tumour, ahead of colon and lung cancer.

Ebola Scare

A WOMAN was given the all-clear for a suspected Ebola infection at a Basque Country hospital with tests showing she in fact had malaria.

Ebola is a serious and potentially fatal viral disease with a 50% mortality rate transmitted to humans through wild animals and then between people. The patient was admitted to the High Biological Security Unit of the Donostia University Hospital in San Sebastian on June 1 after recently returning to a trip to the Central African Republic. Spain has had just one recorded Ebola case when Galician nurse Teresa Romero contracted and overcame the disease in 2014.

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And it is expected to become the most common type of cancer in men by that year. Scientists point out that skin cancer is often caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation, which is already reaching dangerous levels in Spain.

Sunscreen

So they remind holidaymakers not to expose themselves to the sun for long periods and to always use sunscreen. “People spend the whole year working inside an office but when the summer holidays arrive, they go to the beach for the whole day. This sporadic, yet excessive exposure is particularly dangerous,” Eduardo Nagore, Head of the Valencian Institute of Oncology said.

Experts insist 95% of the cases can be prevented with basic measures such as using sunscreen.

The number of people suffering from this type of disease is not only increasing in Spain, but worldwide, with Australia being the country with the largest percentage of skin cancer patients.

PAUL Cunningham Nurses Charity was my vision. On my return to Spain after losing my son Paul to spinal cancer at the age of 33, I was shocked to learn that there was no hospice care nursing available in Spain.

As a successful business woman, operating eight offices throughout the Costa Blanca and Lanzarote, I have lived in Spain for over 30 years and understand the needs of the Ex-pat communities. Then I met the right people, in the right place at the right time, to start the charity in 2008. It was necessary to have a massive amount of fund raising and support to open the first charity shop in Quesada, which is still open and running.

Fundraising events included galas, dinner dances, raffle, with participants donating not only money, but time and services. Many of the venues and music were donated and every event was so enjoyable, and I tried to be present at many of these events. Without all this help, we wouldn’t be where we are today. The headquarters of the charity share an office in La Marina with my insurance office and we now have three charity shops, which along with friends and sponsors of the charity, raise the necessary funds to support the nurses in giving home care for terminally ill patients. We work very closely with Torrevieja hospital, which in all reality is a godsend for them, as they call us to inform us that there is a patient who needs the charity’s help to enable them to return home.

We have all types of equipment available for free of charge loans and the nurse allocated will have a brief from the hospital doctors regarding medication and patient requirements. We are not just there for the patient, but also there to help and support the family.

Despite the problems over the last few years, we are surviving but it isn’t easy. Fortunately I have a very steady pair of hands, acting on my behalf– thank you Chris.

My vision and my hope would be finding somebody, with the enthusiasm and talent to take the charity to the next level and extend coverage throughout all of the Costa Blanca and beyond, but I do feel that this is just a dream.