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THERE HAVE BEEN calls by mole-mapping clinics for the service to be included on demand under general health insurance policies.
Mole mapping, microscopic images taken of moles so they can be recorded for future reference and comparison, can help detect the early signs of skin cancer and although mole mapping is not available under a health insurance schemes, the removal of moles that are deemed to be dangerous are.
At the moment, mole mapping is available under some health insurance policies – but only if it has been recommended to a patient by a dermatologist who has deemed the patient to be at high risk of melanoma or skin cancer. For other policy holders, it is deemed a ‘cosmetic’ procedure and not eligible for general insurance cover.
Mike Malone, managing director of the Mole Screening Clinic, told TheJournal.ie that for the past two years they have been lobbying health insurers to include mole mapping in their policies.
“In countries like Australia and New Zealand, mole mapping is as common as putting petrol in your car,” said Malone. “Prevention is always better than cure.”
However, Patrick Ormond, a consultant dermatologist at St James’s Hospital and the Hermitage Clinic in Dublin stressed that the evidence that mole mapping is of benefit is “not strong”. He said: “It is useful in high-risk patients but it hasn’t proved to be useful in the vast majority of people.”
He said that a GP or dermatologist was better equipped to check moles for potentially malignant changes and that mole mapping should only be part of a full skin examination by a doctor. When a medic has examined the patient and believes them to be a high-risk case, they may well order a mole-mapping test and this will be covered by most health insurers.
Guide to skin cancer. (Image: Mole Screening Clinic)
Donna Parsons spokesperson for the Irish Cancer Society, said they believe that it is more important for people to check and know their own skin rather than having their moles mapped digitally.
“Check moles for changes. If there is a change people should go and see their doctor, they are the experts and those changes have to be investigated,” Parsons told TheJournal.ie.
However Malone disagrees. He says it is difficult for a patient to track a mole if it is somewhere like on their back.
With May being Melanoma Awareness Month, people are being advised to get whatever moles they are concerned about checked out as Ireland has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world.
“Ninety per cent of all skin cancer is curable if detected early,” warns Malone.
If you have moles, consider the ABCDE rule:
The Irish Cancer Society also wants to remind people of the SunSmart Code:
POLL: What do you think: should mole mapping be included in health insurance policies?
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Educate in school the harms from
the sun & do this in the same format as “the safe cross code”. It wouldn’t require a genius to work it into programmes. I have asked for this long time ago (I am volunteer for Irish Cancer Society) but nobody has listened or done anything about it.
I’m confused, unless your wealthy enough to pay for health care is mole mapping just another safety/damage control for the insurers?
It’s unnecessary really – customer focused as opposed to patient focused.
Mole mapping can be done with a drawing of the front and back of the body on an A4 piece of paper with rings drawn wherever there are moles or blemishes. Take close up photos of these and either print them or store them for reference, and check every now and again for changes.
I’ve had mole mapping done here in Ireland as I’ve had a lot of sun damage and am considered high risk. I do think it’s an excellent system particularly when you have multiple moles to monitor as you cannot precisely spot a change, even if you rope in another person to help or take digital photos as I was advised by one consultant. Health insurance premiums are not affordable for many so including them isn’t necessarily going to save lives. What we do need to do is look at using the technology in the HSE and improving dermatology services, my last public appointment through HSE took 16 months – enough time for a problem mole to become deadly. You are also reliant on a manual check then when the technology can highlight potential problems before a person – and on occasion prevent unecessary excisions too. For those who would like to have their moles mapped I would strongly suggest shopping around, prices vary dramatically amongst those offering the service too.
All no votes what the hell is wrong with u people.
Explain ur no ar least
If we gave everyone a whole body MRI we’d find lots of new problems.
Pluse we’d create great business for the private companies doing the scans.
This story is a press release, not a piece of health advice.
Mole mapping is a great idea – only when deemed necessary by a doctor, not at the behest of a clinic’s advertising firm.
It’s only necessary when a doctor says so. If you scanned everyone for everything you’d always find something.
The best combat you have against cancer (most types) is self awareness. Know your body, know your lumps and bumps. The minute you find something that’s not normal – go to your GP and get it checked.
I’m with you John. There is some serious ignorance being demonstrated here.
1) Mole mapping is not an MRI scan. It’s a process of taking pictures of moles on a persons body and then doing so again in the future for comparison in order to identify changes.
2) You do NOT have to be careless in the sun to get a mole that can later become malignant. Education does NOT replace mole mapping. Everyone is exposed to UV radiation every day. Any exposure creates an opportunity for skin cancer. Increased exposure obviously increases the risks, but being careful does not eliminate them.
Also, not everyone in this country grew up in Ireland. Many people who live here came from climates where UV exposure is much more severe than it is here.
Jeez.
While I agree with you AS, if you go looking for problems you will always find them. The dermatology service here is in dire need of providers – so if you do find something you can actually get it treated. Currently, the waiting list for Dermatology exceeds 12months – that’s before we provide for mole mapping on insurance policies. You have to start at the bottom and work up – that is, it doesn’t matter how many cancerous moles you find, if you don’t have enough doctors to treat them, then you’re doing it wrong.
I’ve said it above: there is no alternative like knowing your own body, know the lumps and bumps, pay attention to things like eating habits, sleeping habits, activity habits, things as simple as how often you find yourself drinking water and going to the toilet. As you say yourself, mole mapping is fairly easy to do yourself – all you need is a body map and a camera. Mark blemishes and take full colour close ups so that you can compare the marks in time. If the colour changes, or the size or the new marks are introduced, then contact your GP.
There is no alternative to self awareness. Know your body. It’s fine putting the burden on the health service, it’s already in bits, it doesn’t have capacity, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Involve yourself in your healthcare, it’s not that difficult.
“if you go looking for problems you will always find them”
This argument would make perfect sense if the topic was generic health checks where a miriad of tests are performed with a potential to identify a wide range of problems. However, mole mapping is not an exercise at looking for any kind of thing that can be wrong with a person. It’s a way of checking for one specific problem, just like a breast or prostate examination.
People don’t go for mole mapping and find out they have pre-diabetes.
“there is no alternative like knowing your own body, know the lumps and bumps…”
I certaintly hope there is an alternative, because I can’t see all the places on my body well enough to closely examine everywhere that there might be a mole. People tend to get them in inaccessible places. It’s not like performing a breast examination on yourself.
AS, the idea of mole mapping is something you should be doing anyway. If you have freckles you should be checking them each and every month for change. Likewise for moles, spots and blemishes.
In terms of knowing your own body, there really isn’t. Scientifically and medically, there is, but it costs money, and it costs a lot. Simple things like knowing various habits and noticing change in them can be an identifier that something is wrong.
There are cancers where the only thing you can do is get tested, and there are programmes in place for those issues, with more to follow, and if you do get called for checkup you should absolutely attend.
However, skin cancer is not one of things. The aim here would shift from being patient focused to being customer focused, as has happened in the US. Insurance companies should be providing for it if its necessary, but not otherwise. The only reason you need a mole map from a medical professional is if a medical professional deems it necessary, not if the patient deems it necessary.
I keep saying, it’s not that difficult to be proactive in your healthcare. It really isn’t. A physical each week while you’re standing naked in front of the mirror is all the vast majority of people need. You can check things like the prostate for lumps yourself, and it’s advised that you do.
How do you propose I check the approximately 100 moles I have on my back due to the type of skin I was born with and the location I happen to have been born in?
The ones on the back of my neck. How do I perform the glass check on those?
I know one alternative to mole mapping and it’s what Australian GPs now recommend. That’s having moles removed even if they’re not malignant. I don’t have that option here. The option I do have is mole mapping.
Get help? Ask a partner / spouse to do it? Ask your GP? A friend? Are you a one man band? You surely know someone capable of using a camera and a pencil?
As someone who has quiet a lot of small moles around my body my gp advised a mapping so that’s a good enough reason for me if my gp advocates it
This story is the real reason they blame tanning beds. Doctors have been asking to have insurance company pay for this treatment for a long time.
The middle picture is a finger. Not what you first thought !
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