organised a Bermuda hat day to support their skin cancer awareness programme (Slip Slap Slop).

Malignant melanoma is a rare but dangerous type of skin cancer which is lethal unless diagnosed early. The association is asking everyone to wear a hat to school, work or for pleasure in support of their programme.

Director of public relations, education and fundraising for the association Teresa Cameron said: "We are asking people to donate $5 adults and $1 per child to wear a hat. This should be a fun day. It will be nice to see all types of people wearing all sorts of hats and they will be raising money for charity.

"We encourage people to go to their employers and their school principal and ask to take part in this event. Even if you don't donate still wear a hat.'' Mrs. Cameron added the money goes towards the continuation of a uniquely Bermudian programme, part of which aids in the distribution "goodie'' bags containing sun screen, hats, and information about skin cancer to Island students and teachers, as well as businesses.

The programme, which is called Slip Slap Slop, was launched in March 1997 and has been taught in 12 schools. To date over 3000 children have received the skin-care message.

Melanoma seems to be most common among those with sun-sensitive skin (the fairer you are the higher the risk) who spend most of the year indoors and are intermittently exposed to high doses of sun -- for example an annual Mediterranean holiday.

Evidence suggests that malignant melanoma in adults is related to one or more episodes of severe burning, especially if they occurred in childhood. Most common sites are the lower leg in women and the back in men.

While most other skin cancers can usually be cured by simple surgical removal, malignant melanoma -- because it attacks the rest of the body through the blood stream - also requires chemotherapy.

Though malignant melanoma is a very dangerous form of cancer, a five-minute, monthly self-exam can reveal cancerous changes early enough to increase recovery chances considerably.

To carry out the exam, use mirrors to examine hard to see spots, and plot each mole on a simple chart of your body and watch for the warning signs: Changes in colour - especially to multiple shades of dark brown or black, red, white and blue; or a spread of colour from the edge of the mole to the surrounding skin; change in elevation - when a previously flat mole rises higher than the surrounding skin; change in surface appearance - particularly the development of erosion, oozing, crusting, ulceration or bleeding; change in surrounding skin -especially the development of redness, swelling, or a spread of colour; change in sensation - where the mole becomes itchy, tender or painful change in consistency - especially where the mole becomes soft or looks crumbly; change in size - especially a sudden or continuous enlargement; change in shape - especially the development of irregular margins; According to the The Bermuda TB, Cancer and Health Association, all skin damage is cumulative; in other words your skin starts clocking it up from day one of exposure.

Scientific studies suggest that two or more severe incidences of sunburn in the first ten years of life more than double the risk of developing skin cancer later in life.

Fifty percent of your lifetime exposure to the sun occurs in the first 18 years of life.

It has been estimated that by using a sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 15 or more for the first 18 years of life, an individual can significantly reduce the chances of getting skin cancer.

An awareness of the potential damage the sun can cause also takes on a sense of urgency amid news reports of global warming and ozone depletion.

In an ideal world, most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays would be filtered out in the upper atmosphere by the planet's protective ozone layer, where UV radiation changes oxygen into ozone.

But present and future generations are faced with the spectre of ozone depletion, sparking fear that increased UV will endanger life by leaving it vulnerable to increasing doses of UVa and UVb radiation.

Researchers are predicting with decreased ozone protection there will be an upsurge in instances of sunburn, more cases of skin cancer and other health disorders not only in humans, but in all forms of animal, plant and marine life.

COVER UP if you are in the sun for a long time.