07 Jul 2019

 Society’s perception of putting emphasis on how someone looks results in stigmatisation and discrimination of those living with a condition of vitiligo.

This transpired during a recent commemoration of World Vitiligo Day where the Ministry of Health and Wellness’s community health services advisor, Mr Samuel Kolane, applauded the bravery of vitiligo sufferers, who continued to face the society despite the challenges they faced. 

Vitiligo is one of skin diseases that are acquired. One is not born with it, therefore, people of all ages and sex could be affected. 

The global picture shows that vitiligo affects close to 100 million people worldwide and has a huge social impact on  people. 

Evidence shows that half of them were affected before the ages of 20.

Mr Kolane, therefore, assured those affected of the ministry’s commitment to help ease the suffering experience.  

He said the theme: The Quality of Life of a Vitiligo Patient, was chosen with the American singer Michael Jackson in mind. 

He said since Jackson had vitiligo, there was always a lot of misunderstandings about him, with speculation running through that he bleached his skin to become white while that was not the case.

Once again Mr Kolane said the ministry recognised those who were affected, explaining that they would assist them to educate the society. 

He said research had shown that patients with vitiligo had lower self-esteem and that up to 25 per cent of them suffered from psychologist and psychiatric disturbances such as adjustment disorder, anxiety and depression.

Mr Kolane said the World Vitiligo Day was observed around the world on June 20 and multitudes of people gather to raise awareness on the condition and to also fight the stigma as well as prejudices often encountered by people affected and raise funds for support research and education.

Meanwhile, chairperson of Beyond Vitiligo Botswana and Batenegi At Parliament Trust Mr Oageng Batenegi said vitiligo was a skin condition in which the pigment cells of the skin melanocytes are destroyed in certain areas of the body.

Symptoms and signs of vitiligo included loss of skin colour in the form of depigmented or white patches of skin in any location on the body.

 Mr Batenegi noted that the main event of the first World Vitiligo Day occurred in Nigeria with the participation of several volunteers with different experiences (dermatologists, motivational speakers, dancers, artists, comedians, patients), united by the common course of spreading knowledge and awareness about Vitiligo.

“Since then other events took place in other parts of the world, organized by local associations such as ours. Therefore, it must be noted that the main objective for this commemoration today is to bring together stakeholders; create strategic partnerships, raising awareness and hold dialogue on policy interventions on people living with the Vitiligo skin condition,” he said. Ends