There is a case for further development of public and professional education and prevention programs in the field of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Prevention strategies should lead to lower incidence rates and to a reduction in the morbidity and mortality due to these tumors. So far, most public health approaches issued about skin cancer have been dictated by the alarming rising incidence of melanoma over the past several decades. However, NMSC is quite different from melanoma as regards warning signs, epidemiology, risk profiles, morbidity, and mortality. Moreover, public messages that seam meaningful in a sunny climate (Australia) may be of most questionable value in a temperate area (western Europe). Lastly, prevention intervention must target defined risk populations in order to be cost-effective.Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) has a major role in the development of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), less so as a cause of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). UVR avoidance, within reasonable limits, is recommended for everyone. Peak intensity of solar UVR during mid-summer and during noonday hours, individual susceptibility (skin phenotype), and unintentional occupational vs intentional recreational exposures should be taken into account. For temperate zones, too must emphasis on UVR avoidance measures is possibly counterproductive. Specific risk groups, e.g. organ transplant recipients, require a different approach.Secondary prevention of NMSC, including screening, seems less awarding than similar campaigns for melanoma. Risk factors for NMSC are not prominent (compare: mole-proneness as a risk factor for melanoma). Clinical warning signs of SCC are notoriously unspecific. Moreover, NMSC favors the elderly which makes self-assessment and self-reporting rather lacunar. Notwithstanding this, it is believed that educational messages to the general public and the medical profession regarding early recognition of NMSC (secondary prevention) is more yielding that emphasizing behavioral changes in UVR exposure (primary prevention).