Solar ultraviolet radiation: assessing the environmental burden of disease at national and local levels

Overview

Exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the sun is a well-known risk factor for human disease. Indeed, in many countries, skin cancers are the most common types of cancer and account for a large economic burden to health-care systems. The health risks associated with exposure to UVR are distributed unevenly across the world, depending on the match between skin type and ambient levels of UVR. However, public health policies promoting appropriate sun protection at both personal and population levels may contribute to the reduction of health risks from UVR exposure. Indeed, many countries have developed comprehensive sun protection programmes.

Quantitative assessment of the size and distribution of UVR-associated health risks can be an important tool in comparing the associated disease burden with that due to other risk factors to guide public health spending and the focus of sun protection programmes. Such assessments will also provide a means for countries to assess the relative risks and benefits of UVR exposure with regard to their specific population and location. This guide provides a method by which countries can estimate their current disease burden (in terms of incidence, mortality and a combined measure of mortality and morbidity, called disability-adjusted life years) from UVR exposure— and thus the burden that could be avoided by use of selected protective measures.

This guide is based on the methods developed in the framework of the global assessment of burden of disease from UVR (Lucas et al., 2006). Certain methodological aspects are only summarized in the present guide but can be found in more detail in the global assessment.

This guide is part of a series providing guidance on quantifying the disease burden from various environmental risks. It is complemented by an introductory volume on methods for estimating the environmental burden of disease (Prüss-Üstün et al., 2003).