Diagnosis rates for melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer, have tripled in the south of Tenerife during the last quarter of the year. This concerning data was confirmed by Canary Islands pharmacist and divulgator Samira Marrero, known on social media as @dermoboticaria, in an interview with La Radio Canaria.
Marrero has issued an urgent call to the population of the Islands to raise awareness about individual responsibility. While acknowledging that prevention campaigns and early detection are improving diagnoses, the high solar radiation in the island's southern tourist areas continues to affect both residents and visitors.
This increase in such a serious disease coincides with the rise of denialist discourses on social media that question the use of sunscreen. This pseudoscientific trend has gained notoriety following statements from public figures, such as footballer Marcos Llorente, who questioned the link between the sun and skin cancer.
“"Just a few days later was the Dermatology Congress here in the Canary Islands, and all the dermatologists created different types of content on social media, and I found them very interesting precisely because of that, because the evidence already states it: melanoma skin cancer is associated with sunburn. There's nothing else."
The medical community insists there is no scientific debate: accumulated sunburns, especially during childhood and youth, irreversibly damage skin cell DNA and increase the risk of developing malignant tumors. Marrero laments the difficulty of competing against the sensationalism of social media and the platform certain 'influencers' possess.
Given this situation in southern Tenerife, specialists reiterate protection measures: avoid sun exposure during central daylight hours, use hats and sunglasses, and apply broad-spectrum sunscreen (SPF 50) every two hours, disregarding online rumors that seriously endanger public health.
