Martha drowns with the mask, but even so, she decides to take it inside the house. She is asthmatic and avoids the slightest catarrhal symptom at all costs. She happily comments on her hopes that everything will continue to be favorable, as she does not want to give up her “weekly on the beach with the grandchildren.” Her optimism is contagious.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- It is a collective longing, in Cuba and abroad. However, another neighbor notes the detail that, at the gates of summer and the intense suns that bathe these lands, umbrellas become as essential as the protective masks against the deadly COVID-19. “Listen, even if the exits from home are precise and fast, you have to protect yourself from the sun. This gives skin cancer,” she says.
Martha is silent and nods. And she remembered…”She was a young woman; I don't think she was in her 50s, but she had skin cancer. I went to the stem cell consultation and she, to Oncology. It was sad to see her, she was always depressed and her eyes were barely visible behind her glasses. You're right, there is no reason to expose to the sun if you can dress up,” she said.
Now all the tensions are focused on how to prevent and avoid the contagious for the deadly coronavirus. However, the pandemic cohabits with other high-risk diseases and should not be neglected. Wearing caps, hats, sweaters with hoods, among other outfits that protect the face and body are also vital to maintain optimal health.
Information from the colleague Misleydis González Ávila, published in February in 26Digital, indicates that this type of cancer is the one with the highest incidence in the Las Tunas population. Here more than 5,000 people have a malignant tumor and it is the cause of death of 1,300 every year.
In that and other newswires, specialists indicate that protecting yourself from the so-called “king of the sky” is the best way to prevent skin lesions, exacerbated by stress, ingesting inadequate water levels, not maintaining a balanced diet and using chemical substances.
Given the negative incidence of the COVID-19 in daily habits and objective food limitations to maintain diets or eat in a balanced way; as well as the use of disinfectants that irritate the skin and influence these ailments in a harmful way, it prevails take care with greater responsibility of such strong heat and intense solar rays.
In short, in saying of Martha: "let’s dress up, take a water bottle to the queues and think that yes, the neighbor is right, the umbrellas are as important as the mask." From my balcony, with the burning sun at 3:00 in the afternoon, I see many people passing by without any protection and most of them are young. The poor perception of risk wins the game again. Skin cancer can also be fatal.
