Melanoma Awareness Month 2026: what Euromelanoma's "Bullshit" campaign wants you to stop believing

17,900 new cases per year in France, a +500% rise over two decades, and a 2026 European campaign that takes direct aim at misinformation: "Bullshit". May is officially Melanoma Awareness Month — the skin cancer equivalent of October's Pink Ribbon for breast cancer. In France it's known as "Purple May" (Mai violet). The difference: here, the main enemy isn't the disease. It's what we think we know.

Here are ten myths about melanoma, dismantled one by one with figures from the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) and the French Society of Dermatology (SFD). Spoiler: numbers 6 and 9 are the most dangerous, and number 10 is still being repeated on every playground.

"Purple May", the skin cancer counterpart to October's pink ribbon

Since 2011, Euromelanoma — a European network of dermatologists — has coordinated a pan-European prevention and screening campaign every May. In France, it's run by the French Society of Dermatology (SFD) and the National Union of Dermatologists-Venereologists (SNDV). Across the UK and the rest of Europe, May is the reference month for melanoma awareness and free screening drives.

The 2026 edition takes a sharper tone with a deliberately blunt slogan: "Bullshit". The reasoning is simple: despite twenty years of educational campaigns, false beliefs still kill more people than the disease itself. Melanoma is today one of the most preventable cancers — and one of the deadliest when caught late.

The purple ribbon isn't as widely recognised yet as the pink one. It should be: melanoma kills around 2,000 people every year in France alone (INCa data), with a survival rate that drops sharply once diagnosis is delayed beyond stage IIa.

The figures that hurt

• 17,900 — estimated new cases of cutaneous melanoma in France in 2023 (French National Cancer Institute).
• +500% — increase in melanoma incidence in France over the past twenty years (Santé publique France).
• 2,000 — annual deaths attributed to melanoma in France (INCa).
• 1 — a single severe sunburn during childhood is enough to double the risk of adult melanoma (Skin Cancer Foundation).
• 80% — of skin cancers are attributable to UV exposure (World Health Organization).

Melanoma is one of the only cancers whose main cause is known, measurable, and broadcast every morning on the weather app. And one of the only ones where people still ask whether protection "is really necessary".

Ten "bullshits" to stop believing

1. "A tan protects against future sunburn"

False. A tan is the skin's defence response to oxidative stress. At best it offers a natural SPF of 4. It's not a shield — it's a scar.

2. "SPF 50 cream lasts three hours"

False. Every product label recommends reapplication every two hours and after each swim. In real-world conditions, the initial application is under-dosed by a factor of 2 to 4 (studies published in JAMA Dermatology) — which turns a labelled SPF 50 into an effective SPF 12 to 25.

3. "Waterproof cream lasts through a swim"

False. The European "water resistant" standard certifies 40 minutes in water. "Very water resistant" certifies 80 minutes. Beyond that, the protocol calls for reapplication. Most users read "waterproof" as "all-day".

4. "Glass blocks all UV"

True for UVB. False for UVA. Standard window glass lets 50 to 70% of UVA through — the rays responsible for skin ageing and implicated in melanoma. Long-haul lorry drivers often show pronounced ageing on the left side of their face.

5. "Under a parasol, my baby in the pram is protected"

False. A parasol blocks roughly 50% of direct UV, but sand reflects up to 25% of incoming radiation — which hits from below. In practice, under a parasol, a baby still receives 30 to 40% of the ambient UV dose.

6. "A child's sunburn has no long-term consequences"

False — and this is the most dangerous bullshit of the list. A single severe sunburn before age 15 doubles the risk of melanoma in adulthood (Skin Cancer Foundation, multiple meta-analyses). Cellular damage in childhood is one of the strongest predictors of future skin cancer.

7. "Darker skin tones don't get melanoma"

Partly false. Statistically, melanoma incidence is lower in phototypes 4 to 6. But when it does occur, it is diagnosed later (often in non-visible areas, with less systematic follow-up), and is therefore more deadly. Bob Marley died at 36 of an acral lentiginous melanoma on the sole of his foot.

8. "Sunbed tanning is safer than the sun"

False. The WHO classifies tanning beds in Group 1: carcinogenic to humans — the same category as asbestos and tobacco — since 2009. In France, their use by minors has been banned since 2014. No health authority recognises any health benefit from artificial tanning.

9. "A mole that hasn't changed is never dangerous"

False — the second most dangerous myth. 20 to 30% of melanomas appear on healthy skin, with no pre-existing mole (French Society of Dermatology). A melanoma can appear ex nihilo. That's why the annual screening calendar matters, even when "nothing seems to be changing".

10. "The earlier you tan, the better you handle summer"

False. The idea of a "progressive sun capital" has no scientific basis. The skin does not train — it accumulates DNA damage. The first unprepared exposures (early May in northern Europe) are precisely the ones that cause the most cellular mutations.

The official protection hierarchy — SFD

Every year, the French Society of Dermatology publishes its recommended hierarchy of sun protection methods. It's clear, little known, and the exact opposite of what most consumers do.

1. Avoid exposure during peak hours (12 noon to 4 pm in summer). First line of defence, free.
2. Covering clothing. Physically blocks UV, can't be under-applied, doesn't fatigue the skin's chemistry. A UPF 80 t-shirt certified to UV Standard 801 blocks 98.75% of UV — as much as a perfectly applied SPF 80.
3. Wide-brim hat and UV 400 sunglasses. Protect the eyes and the back of the neck, two critical zones.
4. Sunscreen — only on areas not covered by clothing. SPF 50, mineral filters (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide) as a priority.

What this hierarchy says implicitly: sunscreen is the last line, not the first. It complements clothing — it doesn't replace it. The reverse logic, dominant in the sunscreen marketing, is one of the structural reasons behind the surge in melanoma cases.

For medically high-risk skin (xeroderma pigmentosum, vitiligo, giant congenital naevus, post-radiotherapy), this hierarchy becomes absolute: certified medical-grade UPF 80 clothing is the only reliable protection over several uninterrupted hours.

The 2026 calendar: self-examination and free screening

May is traditionally home to the National Melanoma Screening Day, organised by the SNDV. Several hundred volunteer dermatologists offer a free rapid consultation. The 2026 date is announced each April on dermatos.fr — worth checking directly. In the UK, equivalent free-screening drives are run via the British Association of Dermatologists during the same period.

Between two screenings, the ABCDE method lets you keep watch on a suspicious mole yourself:

• A — Asymmetry. One half doesn't look like the other.
• B — Border. Irregular, jagged or blurred edges.
• C — Color. Several colours, or sharply contrasting areas.
• D — Diameter. Larger than 6 mm (about the size of a pencil eraser).
• E — Evolution. The mole changes in size, shape or colour over a few months.

A single criterion warrants a dermatology appointment within the month. Two or more criteria, and it's a fast-track consultation. (See our article Longevity skincare: UPF 80 is the real anti-ageing routine for the long-term preventive logic.)

What Purple May 2026 is really asking

The "Bullshit" campaign isn't asking you to panic. It's asking you to stop passing on — between friends, between parents, in magazines — the false beliefs that, taken together, delay diagnoses and cost lives. Effective protection against melanoma exists: it's called "avoiding exposure", "wearing UPF fabric", "getting a mole checked when it moves". The rest is marketing or folklore.

The purple ribbon doesn't need to become as recognised as the pink one. It just needs to be taken seriously.

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