Mole mobiles aim to speed up skin cancer screenings as Canada struggles with dermatologist shortage – CBC
Canada has Just 770 dermatologists, says dermatology association that first warned of shortage in 2008
May 11, 2024
Bruce Ballingall grew up playing with his five brothers in the sun. He says they didn’t wear hats or sunscreen and they all ended up with some form of skin cancer.
“Nobody warned me, until it was too late,” said the 75-year-old whose skull is covered with skin grafted from his legs after the removal of melanomas.
He now volunteers with Melanoma Canada and speaks out to warn others. He says he can’t wait for a new mobile cancer screening unit to head to Kamloops, B.C., where his younger brother Brent, 70, has been waiting for almost two years to see a dermatologist.
Skin cancer screening and diagnosis is taking longer in Canada, even as rates of melanoma keep rising due to what experts say is a shortage of dermatologists. Skin cancer can spread and become life threatening within months, but tens of thousands of Canadians face waits of a year or longer for appointments and treatment, according to Melanoma Canada, a charity and advocacy group.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/dermatologist-shortage-canada-1.7199837
