Saturday, July 29, 2006

Too much of sun kills

What's it with the sun these days!

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that as many as 60,000 people a year die from too much sun, mostly from malignant skin cancer.

The bulk of the deaths are from skin cancers caused by excess exposure to the sun's harmful rays, ultraviolet radiation, says WHO.

UVR also causes sunburn, triggers cold sores and ages the skin, according to its report, the first to outline the global health burden of sun exposure.

Simple measures, such as covering up when in the sun, could cut the deaths.

The WHO report in this regard, while warning the dangers of too much exposure to the sun, should also as forcefully bring out the message about the depletion of the ozone layer, causing this deadly problem in the first place. The international community needs to wake up and take decisive and urgent action to stop polluting the air with green house gases.

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