Community pharmacies in Wales are set to advise the public on how to recognise the symptoms of skin cancer and reduce their risk via a national campaign.

The country's 714 pharmacies will provide advice and quizzes to help customers assess their knowledge of the risks and symptoms of skin cancer during the month-long campaign, which launches on May 1.

Pharmacies will display a wallchart with information on different sizes of moles so patients can rule out blemishes on their skin as non-malignant or be warned of something they need to get checked out, as part of the campaign run by Public Health Wales, Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW) and several Welsh health boards and Welsh cancer charity Tenovus.

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	Converted ice cream vans stocked with sun cream, organised by Tenovus, will also pull up outside pharmacies to offer patients information on skin cancer.

The campaign, entitled Here Comes the Sun, follows the success of the Look After Your Eyes campaign last summer that saw pharmacists conduct nearly 2,000 MURs. It forms one of the three national public health campaigns Welsh pharmacies are contractually required to provide each year.

Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in people aged between 15 and 34, and an early diagnosis can hugely impact survival rates, according to CPW. However, older people, particularly men, often delay seeking advice for their symptoms, it added.

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