It’s been a hot week and the temperatures are not set to go down anytime soon. After all, we are in the middle of summer and this warm weather is expected at this time of the year.

What is not, perhaps, is the duration. Usually, we do get heat-waves that last three or four days and then we get a few days of reprieve before we hit the mid-30s and more on the Celsius scale.

This time, the spell has been longer than usual. In nearby Italy, the temperatures have been soaring and staying in unusual heights for a long stretch, especially in the cities where there is no sea breeze to make matters slightly cooler. There, the media has been incessantly used by the authorities to warn people of the dangers and what to do to avoid health issues associated with excessive heat.

Meteorologists will say that this is normal weather for this time of the year, and they will play down media reports on “how hot it is”, but at the same time it is always important that the media plays its role in raising awareness on the need for people to take all the necessary precautions.

This is more so for the more vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and young children although, of course, each and every one of us should be aware of what needs to be done in the circumstances.

Drinking water at regular intervals and staying out of the sun, especially during the peak hours, is an advice that is commonly repeated these days. Wearing light clothes and using fans and/or air-conditioners to lower the temperature are important ways to stay cool.

Yet, in spite of all the warnings, many people stay in the sun for long stretches when they go to the beach. Many do not use skin protection, and spend long hours exposed to the sun without even the comfort of an umbrella.

Just go to the beach – any beach – and you can see people on deckchairs and sun-beds licking the sun just to get a tan. They do it to “look good” and get compliments, but little do they realise what harm they are causing to themselves. They may look good tonight, but they will pay the price tomorrow.

The health ministry, as it does every year, embarks on a campaign against melanoma and other skin diseases, some of which may be caused by over-exposure to the sun’s rays. Yet this campaign starts sometime in May – before summer – and seems to fizzle out when the hotter days come by in June, July and August.

Perhaps it would be better if this campaign is staggered all over the summer months, and it should also be more direct in its approach. Readers will remember advertising campaigns on drinking and driving, those with a body splashed on the road after a traffic accident. Well, the Health Ministry should perhaps consider having such strong advertising on the harmful effects of skin diseases. Having photos of sick skin displayed on billboards close to the more popular beaches may act as a deterrent.

But, after all, it depends on us too.