Tourists warned to avoid skin disease

Tourists in search of the sun for their summer holiday have been warned to make sure they keep covered up to avoid the risk of sunburn and skin disease.

Dr Leslie Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, has spoken of the increase in figures in non-melanoma cancer, a common kind of skin cancer which is very rarely life threatening.

She added that at least 75,000 cases of this type of cancer are registered each year, but it is believed that the actual figure could be more than 100,000.

Travellers who feel they could be susceptible to catching a skin disease should make sure they take out a holiday insurance which covers them for problems such as this.

This month, the British Association of Dermatologists reported that a quarter of parents didn't put sun cream on their children during the summer and the UK has the highest rate of skin cancer in Europe for children under 14.