According to WHO data, each year 48,000 people die from malignant melanomas, coupled with an additional 12,000 people who die each year due to other skin cancers.
Doctors say 90 percent of those cancer cases were caused by overexposure to ultraviolet sunlight.
Dr. Maria Neira, Director for Public Health and the Environment at WHO, explains, "We all need some sun, but too much sun can be dangerous - and even deadly. Fortunately, diseases from UV such as malignant melanomas, other skin cancers and cataracts are almost entirely preventable through simple protective measures."
"The application of sunscreens should not be used to prolong sun exposure but rather to protect the skin when exposure is unavoidable."
According to the Associated Press, radiation from the sun also causes often serious sunburn, skin aging, eye cataracts, pterygium - a fleshy growth on the surface of the eye, cold sores and other ills, according to the report, the first to detail the global effects of sun exposure.
