The first Euromelanoma campaign ran in Belgium in 1999. Since 2000, many more European countries have joined Euromelanoma, with 33 now participating from as far afield as Georgia and Armenia. Every year, nearly 50,000 Europeans are screened by dermatologists during Euromelanoma Week, and in 2015 alone, the Euromelanoma website was visited by more than 500,000 visitors. The campaign has also engaged politicians in several countries and at the European Parliament, to promote skin cancer prevention policies.
Raising awareness of skin cancer prevention is vital, and there is still more progress needed in this regard. Beyond the campaigns, Euromelanoma supports skin cancer prevention by acting as a platform for a central database of all screened individuals, currently numbering almost 300,000 Europeans. This shared database is populated using a common questionnaire, which gives consistent data across Europe. Analysing this data helps us to understand the population at risk, and when certain risk factors are identified, to also understand how they vary between countries.
Euromelanoma supports Europe's dermatologists by providing a new skin cancer prevention campaign every year focusing on either primary or secondary prevention. In many countries, the Euromelanoma campaign represents the first and only comprehensive initiative to promote skin cancer prevention, especially where funding may not exist for individual national campaigns. Working together increases the power, impact and effectiveness of the campaigns, and helps build important collaboration and exchange between dermatologists from many European countries. Every year, Euromelanoma hosts a meeting at the EADV, inviting lecturers from different countries to speak about skin cancer prevention, and presenting the new campaign for the following year.
Spain is a great country. It is a dynamic and essential Euromelanoma partner. The people of Spain count on 2400 dermatologists for their skin care. Spain has a large tradition of skin cancer prevention campaigns, with many local initiatives in place. With Dr Jose Carlos Moreno as Spanish Euromelanoma coordinator in 2016, we count on the vital participation of Spanish dermatologists to help raise awareness of skin cancer prevention, and ultimately, save more lives across Europe.
