1. Melanoma Day: It’s Scary… But Not In The Way You Might
Think
Tanning means different things to different people and for different purposes. For some tanning
means an addiction to get as dark skin as possible. For others it means a guaranteed path to
skin-aging, skin-cancer and premature death. For me (and a few others) it means healthy
exposure to the UV-rays that gives us vitamin D and many other photo-therapy benefits.
Melanoma Day: It’s Scary… But Not In The Way You Might
Think
May 21st 2012 is Melanoma Day in Russia.
The organisation behind Melanoma Day is Euromelanoma, which
describes itself as: “a pan-European campaign for skin cancer prevention that aims to give
information to everybody on skin cancer prevention, early diagnosis and treatment.” Sounds
good, doesn’t it? But is this really their true purpose? The main founder of Euromelanoma is LA
ROCHE-POSAY, owned by L’Oréal, who have played a leading role in the sun-scare, one of the
most sinister and cynical PR-campaigns ever. With this we could describe Euromelanoma’s
core purpose more accurately as being:
“a pan-European campaign for creating exaggerated skin cancer statistics that can be
used to scare people into buying more sun-protection cosmetics to increase the profits
of its founders.”
To this we can add an even more devious purpose …
“By scaring people into avoiding the healing benefits from sunlight and tanning beds,
more and more people will need to be treated for skin diseases, thus increasing sales of
our dermatological products.”
And to take it one step further …
“The sponsoring of national dermatological associations creates an excellent marketing
and sales channel for our pharmaceutical products, as well as a useful base for political
lobbying.”
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2. If you think this sounds like an unfair reading of L’Oréal’s supposed philanthropy, one only has
to look at their leading role in The Creation of The Sun Scare. In short, L’Oréal, together with
Nestlé, used their funding of research into a “cure for skin cancer” as the pretext to instigate a
massive black PR campaign, the sun-scare. Of course the main purpose of L’Oreal’s research
is not to find a cure for skin-cancer. That would be like killing the goose laying the golden eggs.
Their real aim? To make us believe that the sun, for so long recognised as beneficial to our skin
and all round health, was suddenly a killer. The result? Multi-billion Euro annual sales of sun
protection “skin care” cosmetics – and a nice little side line in treatments for skin conditions that
are exacerbated because of lack of exposure to the sun. Training and education programmes
for dermatologists, and funding for dermatological associations, helped complete the cycle:
more diagnosis of new “skin cancers”, such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell
carcinoma (SCC), more fear, more sales of lucrative sun protecting cosmetics. Now, to help fuel
the fear (and profits) still further, some clever PR whizz invented the, now international,
Melanoma Day. The company selected to spearhead the increased search for Melanoma in
Europe was La Roche-Posay, which was purchased by L’Oréal in 1989. This is how L’Oréal
describes their “Active Cosmetics” division, to which La Roche-Posay belongs:
“Dermocosmetic skincare, the core business of the Active Cosmetics Division, target the
needs of people with “borderline” skin, affected by minor problems or a low tolerance
level. The success of the 2011 launches was driven by the alliance between powerful
innovations and recommendations by health professionals: dermatologists,
paediatricians, pharmacists and doctors practising aesthetic medicine.”
Here is the model for creating exaggerated sun-scare statistics which has been used in every
country. And this is also where “Melanoma Day” comes into the picture … The first step is to
create the vehicles through which L’Oréal can exercise their influence on dermatologists.
Examples: American Academy of Dermatology, American Dermatological Association,
Canadian Dermatology Association, ????????????? ??????? ???????????? ? ???????????? (in
Russia) etc. etc.. L’Oréal is the initiator and main sponsor of one or more organisation in each
country. Even if, for many, the sponsoring of such associations sounds like a very good and
altruistic deed, the real purpose is to provide the black PR campaign against sunshine with
frightening statistics. The “Euro Melanoma Day” was invented to get as many people as
possible into the screening rooms of the dermatologists trained by La Roche-Posay. To be fair,
this does mean that some cases of real malignant melanoma can be detected and treated in
time. That is however a tiny amount compared to all the cases of benign (i.e. "thin") melanoma
plus BCC and SCC that are 'discovered". The real tragedy is that many people are "put under
the knife" unnecessary, often leading to severe personal psychological
and physiological traumas as well as higher costs for tax-payers. Prof. Earl J. Glusac describes
this very well in his report “The melanoma ‘epidemic’, a dermatopathologist’s perspective” The
bottom line is that the “melanoma inflation” created by dermatologists eager to win prizes set up
by La Roche-Posay for the most skin cancers detected, creates far more false positive
melanoma and non-melanoma skin-cancer cases - all for the purpose of supporting the black
PR campaign against UV-light. These forces create a virtual “Perpetuum Mobile” for increased
sales and profit from sun-protection cosmetics, dermocosmetic skincare products and remedies
for skin-diseases. Only political decision makers have the possibility to stop its progress. To
prevent that from happening, a powerful lobbying structure, again based upon associations of
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3. different kinds, has been established by L'Oréal. This lobbying has been especially efficient in
the USA, where there is a tradition for this kind of political influence. Elsewhere more subtle and
hidden methods of influencing politicians are being used. However, and because of the
extremely well executed black PR campaign, there is hardly any need for lobbying any more.
The mission of changing the perception of sunlight from good to bad is more or less complete.
Very few any longer question the tan scaring reports from researchers on L’Oréal’s payroll. No
journalists are digging into the material behind the press releases in order to try to find the real
truth. Instead they just repeat the false statements given to them by the PR spinners of
sun-scare. No politicians raise any objections when the rights of their citizens are being
trampled upon. Instead they are helping the sun-scare by initiating laws against tanning. And,
worst of all, a whole generation has been brought up being brainwashed to believe that
sunshine and tanning beds are dangerous. This brainwashing is secured by constant sun-scare
messages in glossy magazines funded by L’Oréal’s advertising budget. In the run up
to Melanoma Day in Russia, it is amazing to see how the campaign has been intensified this
year compared to previous years. Now the Ministry of Health is actively supporting the
campaign and it is impossible to visit a pharmacy without being bombarded with leaflets and
posters urging everyone to sign up for a screening.
My take on this is that any politician who is
supporting Melanoma Day, in spite of knowing the traditions of Russian healthcare and the facts
of the healing powers of sunlight, is either incredibly naïve or incredibly corrupt - or both.
Sun-scare messages are being transmitted daily. Just today (24th April 2012), I heard on one of
the most popular radio channels how a well-known doctor advised people in Moscow about the
need to “protect themselves against the dangerous springtime sun, not only by wearing
wide-brimmed hats, but also with an additional umbrella.” What great, healthy advice to the
grey, gloomy and vitamin D starved folks who have been without UVB from the natural sun for
more than six months! I sincerely hope that the firm roots in Russia of common sense and
traditional knowledge about the healing benefits from sunlight will be strong enough to withstand
this new commercial threat to our health and wellbeing.
Tanning (and tanners) is being persecuted by the sun-scare lobby that is being paid by
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4. manufacturers of sun-protection lotions to exaggerate the fear for melanoma and other
skin-cancers. This "melanoma-marketing" makes the health-care costs sky-rocket. It is
using our fear, manipulated statistics and outright lies about tanning to prove that we have to be
constantly covered in sun-screen. The fact is that not even the most hard-core anti-tanning
propagandist has been able to show any scientific evidence that regular but moderate (i.e.
non-burning) UV-exposure increases the risks for skin-cancer. There are, however, many
reports showing that moderated but regular tanning can reduce the risk for most other cancers
(mainly thanks to the vitamin D we are gettig from tanning).
From The Tanning Blog: Melanoma Day: It’s Scary… But Not In The Way You Might Think
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