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Brett Hunter is a keen boatie who loves fishing and diving in the sunny Bay of Plenty, spending as much time on the water as possible during New Zealand’s long, hazy summer.
But with a family history of melanoma, Brett has learned to be careful.
“I’ve had a few dodgy moles cut out, one of which was a melanoma, so I'm very aware of the importance of looking for any changes to my skin,” he says.
Earlier this year, Brett downloaded the SkinVision smartphone app to help him keep on top of his skin health.
SkinVision is an app for both iPhone and Android phones, officially certified as a medical device and launched in New Zealand earlier this year. It enables users to accurately assess the skin cancer risk of moles and lesions, before seeing a doctor for a diagnosis and optional treatment.
“Reflection from the water amplifies the damage our strong sun can do to your skin, and it's very easy to forget to cover up and reapply sunscreen when you're having fun in - and out - of the water.
“I think it’s fantastic that technology on our phones can help us keep track of our moles – and it's very easy to set up reminders to photograph my skin spots on a regular basis between skin checks."
“The app gives me peace of mind between doctor visits – that’s important for me and my family,” he says.
In November, SkinVision announced a partnership with Kiwi-owned Accuro Health Insurance to provide the mobile self-check tool to Accuro’s 30.000+ health insurance members free of charge, helping to detect skin cancer signs early and lower the incidence rates in this country.
New Zealand has the highest incidence rate of melanoma in the world. Over 4000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with melanoma and around 300 New Zealanders die of the disease each year.
Accuro CEO Geoff Annals say that both Accuro and SkinVision want to make it easier for everyone to stay healthy while enjoying the great, sun-filled Kiwi lifestyle.
“Accuro recognises the importance of reducing skin cancer risk and increasing early detection rates for the disease in New Zealand. By providing our members – some of whom we know are boaties - with this uniquely accessible skin health monitoring technology, we hope to save lives and encourage our members and their families to become more aware of the importance of monitoring their skin health,” says Annals.
All new and existing members of Accuro will be able to use the SkinVision app for free while Accuro will reimburse SkinVision on the basis of ‘per melanoma found’.
But you don’t have to belong to Accuro Healthcare to get the app – it’s available to download at https://skinvision.com/ or from your app store.
Dick Uyttewaal, CEO of SkinVision says the company is trying to put the melanoma detection tool into the hands of as many New Zealanders as possible, especially over the summer months, and especially those people who spend a lot of time outdoors or on the water.
The next step is to launch a nationwide awareness campaign together with thousands of nurses across New Zealand. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) will put the SkinVision app into the hands of its nurses to demonstrate how patients can monitor their own skin health in between doctor visits.
About SkinVision
SkinVision was founded in 2012 and is an awareness and tracking solution that supports individuals with the early recognition of skin cancer. SkinVision is the first certified skin cancer application globally based on extensive clinical trials in partnership with the university clinic of Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich in 2013, published in the JEADV in 2014. The company has built up a customer portfolio of 600K+ users globally and a database of 1.5+ million pictures of suspicious skin conditions.
SkinVision’s headquarters is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
