Group collaborating with City of Boston, Mass General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital to relaunch touchless sunscreen dispensers
IMPACT Melanoma, a national non-profit organization dedicated to reducing skin cancer diagnoses across the country, is once again teaming up with the City of Boston and the Departments of Dermatology at both Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Mass General Hospital (MGH) for the ongoing expansion of Boston’s summer sun safety program. Free sunscreen dispensers will be made available yet again at locations around Boston, including areas like the Boston Common, Boston Public Garden, and Jamaica Pond. In total, automatic sunscreen dispensers will be placed in 28 locations city-wide. In addition, there will also be a Sun Safety Station on The Rose Kennedy Greenway, which will be out for the public to utilize from June 15-August 15 with a sun-safety day celebration—providing education to the community on June 23 from 12-3 p.m. at this location.
“Boston was the first city in the country to progressively engage IMPACT Melanoma’s ‘Practice Safe Skin’ program, which has been adopted by 47 states,” said IMPACT Melanoma’s Executive Director, Deb Girard. “We’re thrilled to see the expansion of the program throughout Boston, with the help of our friends at Mass General Brigham’s Departments of Dermatology. This marks our fourth year of collaboration, and I couldn’t be happier with the impact we’ve made and will continue to make.”
That impact has included the increased utilization of sunscreen throughout the city with reports showing that over 63,000 took advantage of the sunscreen dispensers in 2021. With the added units and continued educational campaign, those numbers should near the six-digit threshold here in 2022.
Alongside the launch of sunscreen dispensers, IMPACT Melanoma, Mass General Brigham, and Zinnia Sun Shades will celebrate the launch of this year’s program at the Frog Pond opening on June 28 from 11-2 p.m. in Boston in which a representative from City Hall will be in attendance to make a statement.
“While masks or other types of face coverings are important right now due to COVID-19, it is important to remember that a mask doesn’t offer adequate protection from the sun,” said David Fisher, MD, PhD, chief of the MGH Department of Dermatology. “These dispensers are another tool that can help us safeguard the public from skin damage and disease.”
“Applying sunscreen to protect ourselves from excessive sun exposure should be a daily routine in the summer months,” said Thomas Kupper, MD, chair of the Department of Dermatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “For anyone participating in outside activities during the summer, sunscreen remains a practical and accessible way of protecting against skin cancer. The sunscreen dispensers are a great way to encourage the residents of Boston to practice sun safety.”
The American Academy of Dermatology estimates that more than 9,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with some form of skin cancer every day.
“As a Boston Public School teacher for over 20 years and a lifelong learner, I look forward to continuing to educate the public and bring awareness to this serious issue,” said Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy. “My father died of melanoma in 2010, so this is personal for me. As the Boston City Councilor who took over the #PracticeSafeSkin sunscreen dispenser program, I am beyond excited about the expansion of sunscreen dispensers’ locations throughout the City of Boston so that more residents will have free access to one of the best skin cancer protections—sunscreen.”
The sunscreen dispensers will be available for public use through early October 2022. Work Inc will be collaborating with IMPACT Melanoma and Mass General Brigham to maintain sunscreen dispensers at Harambee, Town Field, Millennium Park, Garvey Park, and Moakley.
About IMPACT Melanoma
IMPACT is a national non-profit organization dedicated to working to reduce the incidence of melanoma. Committed to skin cancer prevention and early detection, we provide a variety of award-winning programs which aim to raise awareness and educate the public about skin cancer, as well as support services for those struggling with the disease. In response to the Surgeon General’s 2014 Call to Action to address skin cancer as a major public concern, IMPACT Melanoma launched a pilot program called Practice Safe Skin in summer 2015 to donate free sunscreen throughout Boston parks and Massachusetts beaches at no cost to taxpayers. Following the success of the pilot program, the Practice Safe Skin initiative is expanding to offer cities and businesses across the country the ability to purchase and provide this public safety program. For more information visit www.impactmelanoma.org.
About the Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Mass General Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with annual research operations of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers, and departments. In August 2021, Mass General was named #5 in the U.S. News & World Report list of “America’s Best Hospitals.” MGH is a founding member of the Mass General Brigham health care system. For more information visit www.massgeneral.org.
About Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Brigham and Women’s Hospital is a world-class academic medical center based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Brigham’s medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and that rich history is the foundation for its commitment to serving patients from New England, across the United States, and from 120 countries around the world. A major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, The Brigham network includes 1,200 doctors throughout New England working across 150 outpatient practices. An international leader in virtually every area of medicine, U.S. News & World Report ranks Brigham and Women’s Hospital among the best hospitals in many specialty areas. For more information, resources, and to follow us on social media, please visit brighamandwomens.org.
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