Overview
- UV indices have reached very high to extreme levels across the southern summer, elevating both immediate sunburn risk and long-term skin damage.
- Dermatologists and Peru’s CIDERM warn that poor protection can lead to premalignant lesions that may progress to skin cancers, including melanoma.
- Guidance calls for avoiding direct sun from 10:00 to 16:00, seeking shade, wearing wide-brim hats and protective clothing, and using broad-spectrum SPF50+ even on cloudy days with frequent reapplication or after water exposure.
- Peru’s Liga Contra el Cáncer has launched the “Protégete #UsaBloqueador” summer campaign with free on-site checks and more than 30,000 sunscreen samples at beaches and high-radiation districts in Lima and provinces such as Ica, Piura, Trujillo and Arequipa.
- Experts highlight hidden risks from UV reflected off sand, water and cement, and urge protection of often-missed areas such as ears, eyelids, lips, neck and the tops of the feet.