Small amounts of UV from the sun are beneficial for people and essential in the production of vitamin D. However, prolonged human exposure to solar UV radiation may result in acute and chronic health effects on the skin, eye and immune system. Sunburn is the best-known acute effect of excessive UV radiation exposure. Over the longer term, UV radiation induces degenerative changes in cells of the skin, fibrous tissue and blood vessels leading to premature skin aging. Another long-term effect is an inflammatory reaction of the eye. In the most serious cases, skin cancer and cataracts can occur. In fact the rise in the incidence of skin cancers over the past decades is strongly related to increasingly popular outdoor activities and occupational and recreational exposure. Adopting the following simple precautions one can prevent the harmful effects of the sun. These include staying in the shade, wearing proper clothing and hats and applying sunscreen on those parts of the body that remain exposed like the face and hands. UV attenuating sunglasses with side shields as well as brimmed hats considerably decrease eye exposure and should be worn for optimal protection against UV exposure of the eye. Everyone should enjoy outdoor activities in the early morning and late afternoon on summer days, but there is good reason to adopt protective measures if a person is exposed to the sun within the 5-hour period around the middle of the day from 11am to 4pm. Shade is a useful method of protection for the skin, but protects the eye only when a person faces the shaded areas. Parents are particularly encouraged to keep UV exposure of their children to minimum levels in order to reduce the risk of UV-induced problems in later life. It is important to avoid sun exposure:
The Ministry of Health makes every effort to maintain the accuracy of the information on this website but cannot accept responsibility for any prejudice, loss or damage which may occur from use of the information.
The documents contained on this web site are presented solely with the intent of providing public service information on health, health services and health-related issues. The Ministry of Health has no direct or indirect control over the accuracy or nature of materials presented in the outside links, although we strive to maintain links only with sites that have an established standard.
All information is presented as a public service for information purposes only - all materials should be considered a secondary data source and all materials which are used in decision making processes should be confirmed with outside experts. This information is not intended nor is implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
If you find anything on this website that causes concern please contact us.
We are committed to protecting our visitors' privacy and we will not collect any personal information about you as a visitor unless you provide it voluntarily. Any personal information you communicate to us is kept within sahha.gov.mt itself in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2001
If there are any changes to this privacy policy, we will replace this page with an updated version. It is therefore in your own interest to check the "Privacy Policy" page any time you access our web site so as to be aware of any changes which may occur from time to time.
Contact or Feedback When you fill the form on the "CONTACT US" or "FEEDBACK", we use the personal information submitted in the form only to respond to your message. This personal information will not be kept longer than necessary and will be deleted once the feedback requirement is met.
Links to other Websites Our site has a number of links to other local and international organisations and agencies. In some cases, for the benefit of the visitor, it may be required that we link to other web sites of other organisations after permission is obtained from them respectively. It is important for you to note that upon linking to another site, you are no longer on our site and you become subject to the privacy policy of the new site.
The material on this website is covered by the provisions of the Copyright Act, the laws of Malta, policies, regulations and international agreements entered into by the Government of Malta. The information contained in this website is available for personal and non-commercial public use.
For these purposes it may be reproduced without charge or further permission from the Ministry of Health provided that, the reproduced materials are true copies of the originals and that the Ministry of Health is identified as the source. The reproduced materials shall not in any way be represented as an official version, nor as having been produced in affiliation with or with the endorsement of the Ministry of Health.
The Data Protection Act 2001 was enacted on 14 December 2001 and came fully into force on 15 July 2003. We therefore consider that we have a legal duty to respect and protect any personal information we collect from you and we will abide by such duty. We take all safeguards necessary to prevent unauthorised access and we do not pass on your details collected from you as a visitor, to any third party or Government Department unless you give us your consent to do so.
You may request us at any time what information is effectively held on you if any, at that particular time. You have the right to have any inaccuracies corrected and where applicable erased, if they are not already deleted