TAL running SpotChecker clinics for 3rd consecutive year
While skin cancer awareness is getting better, 29% of people have never been checked.
For the third straight year, TAL is trying to raise awareness of skin cancer by putting on free skin cancer screenings in a number of major Australian cities. Once again the SpotChecker campaign kicked off at Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach over the weekend (1 and 2 December, so it's been and gone for Sydneysiders) and will now make its way around the country.
Next stop for the SpotChecker is Surfers Paradise in the Gold Coast, where it will take up residence on 8 and 9 December. It's then off to Perth's Cottesloe Beach for 12 and 13 January 2019. Its penultimate stop will be at Harold and Cynthia Anderson Reserve in Adelaide on 19 and 20 January 2019. The SpotChecker's journey will culminate at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne on 26 and 27 January 2019.
The campaign is designed to help raise awareness of the dangers of skin cancer, something that TAL general manager for health services Dr Sally Phillips says many Australians underestimate. A recent TAL study found that while 2 in 3 Australians are expected to be diagnosed with skin cancer at some point in their life, 29% of people have never had their skin checked.
"While alarming, these statistics also show we are making progress – at the beginning of last summer, 39% of people had never had a skin check, with that number down to 29% this year. The number of people who had a check in the last year has also risen from 29% to 36% in that time," Dr Phillips said in a statement.
In March of 2018, TAL released its results from the last SpotChecker initiative, which found that 25% of those checked were referred on for further testing.
Compare your life insurance options online
Latest life insurance news
Picture: Supplied
