Thursday, April 27, 2017

The ‘silent killer’ of Africa’s albinos...

On stage, Sixmond Mdeka goes by the name Ras Six. He is a successful reggae singer in his homeland of Tanzania, yet despite his fame, he is haunted by another name – East Africa Yellow Man.

Mdeka has albinism – his skin, hair and eyes lack melanin, the pigment that gives skin its colour and helps to protect it from damage by ultraviolet light from the Sun. It is a genetic disorder inherited from parents who both carry a faulty gene that prevents the skin from making melanin properly.

Tanzania has a dark relationship with albinism. Witch doctors hunt those suffering from the condition for their body parts, which are used in potions to bring good luck and wealth. Victims can be kidnapped and then dismembered by hired killers, or even sold by unscrupulous family members, with body parts fetching up to $75,000 (£60,000). The UN estimates around 80 people with albinism in Tanzania have been murdered since 2000.

But these brutal attacks are not the greatest threat to people with albinism in Africa. They face a slower death from a disease known as the “silent killer”. Without melanin to protect them, they have a much higher risk of getting skin cancer. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Kenya hosts world's first albino beauty pageant...
  2. ‘We are being hunted like animals:’ 
  3. Tanzania arrests witchdoctors over attacks on albinos...
  4. Tanzanian albino boy found mutilated and murdered...
  5. Fueled by superstition, people are violently attacking albinos in Tanzania...
  6. Fear & Loathing: Albino Africans survival in Tanzania ...
  7. UN condemns Tanzania attacks on albinos...

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