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Dangerous Sunshine to Children Two United Nations1 agencies warned on Tuesday that children are most at risk of developing skin cancers as a result of the long-term decline in the earths protective ozone layer. The agencies, the World Health Organization and the UN Environmental Programme 2,issued the warning as they launched a global programme aimed at alerting schools to the dangers of exposure to the sun. As ozone depletion becomes more marked, and as people around the world engage more in sun seeking behaviour, the risk of health complications from over-exposure to ultra-violet radiation is becoming a substantial public health concern, said WHO Director-genera3 Lee Jong-wook. By reducing the time children and adolescents are exposed to direct sunlight, he said: We can substantially reduce the risk of contracting skin cancers, cataracts and other conditions4 which might only appear much later in life. In its 2002 World Health Report, the WHO said around the world an average of 66,000 people died every year from melanoma or other types of skin cancer. Independent scientific research shows that every year there are between two to three million new cases of non- malignant melanoma and around 130,000 malignantand normally fatalnew full blown skin cancer cases. Although most known skin cancers seemed to occur in the industrialized world, WHO radiation and environmental health specialist Mike Repacholi told a news conference5, there were many cases believed to be unreported in poorer countries. Although people with darker skins were less susceptible to6; skin cancers, they were just as likely to contract eye cataracts as fairer-skinned populations, and people living close to the equator were even more likely to develop them. | 
