The research showed that 167 people had been so badly sunburnt they had to be admitted for in-patient treatment by specialist burns teams – six of them in intensive care.
The numbers did not include patients treated for sunburn at home, by a GP, or as hospital outpatients.
Hafiji, who has been living in Hawke's Bay for the past 18 months, said the numbers were alarming given "New Zealand and Australia have the highest cases of melanoma skin cancer in the world".
"And the numbers in this report are just the tip of the iceberg as they have only counted extreme cases – those who land up in hospital. We really do need to start taking this much more seriously.
"By not protecting ourselves and our children, we are setting ourselves up for serious, even fatal, skin cancers."
He said he personally did not see any children with sunburn, but instead saw the knock-on effect if left untreated.
"I see daily the consequences of sunburn, not a day goes by when I don't see someone with skin cancer," he said.
"Every single day I see patients with melanoma and the thing is, it's entirely preventable.
"Usually they are aged 50-plus, but even 20 and 30-year-olds get skin cancer in Hawke's Bay.
"Melanoma kills young people quickly. They don't hurt, they don't bleed. It just kills you."
He said people needed to be more aware about skin cancer/melanoma being curable if picked up early.
"Early detection can save lives. Living in New Zealand we don't have the luxury of not looking after our skin," he said.
"We need to practise due diligence - prevention is so easy and it could save your life. Wear protective clothing and stay in the shade when you can; and when you are in the sun slop on sunscreen regularly; slap on a hat; and wrap on some sunglasses."
Hafiji is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (UK); Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and Fellow of the New Zealand Dermatological Society and is co-editor of the journal Clinical Experimental Dermatology (UK).
