AAD Launches New Skin Cancer Awareness Initiative

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) launched a new campaign aimed at increasing awareness for skin cancer and screenings. Entitled “Who’s Got Your Back?”, the campaign is focused on the importance of applying sunscreen and examining skin for suspicious spots. While the back is a hard area of the body to protect with sunscreen, it’s also an important one, since it is the most common location for melanoma, according to the AAD.

According to a recent online survey conducted by the AAD, 37 percent of people rarely or never apply sunscreen to their back when it’s exposed to the sun, and 43 percent rarely or never ask someone else to help them apply sunscreen to their back. Men are more likely than women to rarely or never apply sunscreen to their back and to rarely or never ask someone else for help. Men are also twice as likely as women to report that they wouldn’t feel comfortable asking anyone to apply sunscreen to their back, the results indicate. If no one else were around to provide help with sunscreen, 14 percent of survey respondents would not take any action, like seeking shade or wearing protective clothing, to shield their back from the sun.

To emphasize the importance of sun protection on the back, the AAD released a “Who’s Got Your Back?” video in conjunction with Melanoma Monday, available at www.aad.org.