PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Sun worshipers, listen up.
The state Department of Health and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Rhode Island Hospital are collaborating in offering free skin-cancer screenings at the beaches in July and August.
Dermatologists and dermatology residents affiliated with University Dermatology will administer the screenings — an effort titled “Sun Smarts” — on a first-come, first-served basis to people wearing bathing suits.
The public health campaign is scheduled to be announced at 10 a.m. Monday in conjunction with Sen. Jack Reed, sponsor of the Sunscreen Innovation Act, a bill written to improve sunscreen protection and promote the use of sunscreens.
The proposal seeks to expedite the review process for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of certain active ingredients in sunscreens that have long been approved and safely used in Europe, Canada and other nations. Applications for FDA approval for use in the United States have been pending for a decade or more.
At what Reed said was his urging, the FDA in May announced plans to reclassify sunlamps and ultraviolet lamps intended for use in sunlamps and tanning beds as Class II medical devices.
Reclassifying the UV tanning devices as “moderate risk” devices will require them to bear warning labels about the risk of cancer from certain tanning techniques.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S., with 1 in 5 Americans developing skin cancer over the course of their lives.
All of the Sun Smarts screenings will take place from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. The schedule is: Friday, July 11, Easton’s Beach (First Beach), 175 Memorial Blvd., Newport; Friday, July 18, Roger W. Wheeler Beach (Sand Hill Cove Beach), 100 Sand Hill Cove Rd., Narragansett; Sunday, July 27, Governor’s Bay Day, Scarborough Beach, 970 Ocean Rd., Narragansett; Friday, Aug. 15, East Matunuck State Beach, 950 Succotash Rd., South Kingstown; Friday, Aug. 22, Sachuest Beach (Second Beach), 474 Sachuest Point Rd., Middletown.
“This is the fabric of Rhode Island,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) about Block Island. “I often tell people to come to the island. It’s a wonderful place to live and visit. I think it’s one of the loveliest places in the country.”
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