By Chioma Obinna

It is challenging that Nigeria is currently facing an epidemic of drug abuse and unacceptable rates of suicide. But there is a more serious addiction that has taken hold of both men and women in the country.

Bleaching

Skin: Berverly Naya to premiere new documentary today(Opens in a new browser tab)

Unfortunately—skin bleaching—this silent epidemic, which has remained with us and has eaten deep into the fabric of almost every family is overlooked.   Sadly, while medical experts warn of an imminent increase in number of skin cancer cases among other side effects, many users say it is difficult to stop, Saturday Vanguard reports.

Bleaching has become a way of life for many Nigerians.  From the streets of Lagos to the remotest community in Maiduguri, users are everywhere. Stories abound about how many women, in particular, deny themselves and their children other basic necessities of life in order to buy these bleaching products.  In some cases, homes are broken when money for these creams is not made available or when some ambitious women decided to do otherwise in the quest to maintain the much-desired light skin.

Findings by Saturday Vanguard showed that skin bleaching has become one of the highest desires by Nigerian women and some men alongside other essentials like tea etc.

Today, statistics available show that in the global market, skin bleaching products are estimated to reach $20 billion by the end of the year following the demand by Africans, Asia, and the Middle East.

Unconfirmed report showed that in Lagos alone, the industry is huge as some of the products cost as high as N200, 000, depending on the brand and method of application.

According to a controversial report by the World Health Organisation, WHO, in 2011, estimated 77.3 per cent of Nigerian women use skin lightening products regularly. Although, the report has been greeted with so many criticisms, experts believed that the number is on the increase currently.

The WHO report also revealed that Nigeria leads countries such as Togo with 59 percent bleaching users, South Africa 35 percent, and Senegal 27 percent.

Today, the obsession for skin bleaching has been traced to the fact that many Nigerians believed that light-skinned is a sign of beauty, higher status and superiority. Findings have also shown that media representations and lack of public education are among factors fuelling the sharp increase of the dangerous practice.

The situation has become so bad that many women now have disturbing discolouration, contrasting colours and dark spots.  The knuckles, knee caps and elbows are not speared as they carry different colours.

Worst still, skin bleaching has taken a new dimension in the country. Many users are switching over to organic products while some use glutathione pills and injections to achieve their desired skin complexion.

Glutathione is an antioxidant naturally found in human cells that neutralises free radicals, boosts the immune system and detoxifies the body.

It also causes skin lightening by converting melanin to a lighter colour and deactivating the enzyme tyrosinase, which helps produce the pigment.

However, experts say whichever method users are adopting, skin bleaching is life-threatening and comes with different complications including cancer.

In the views of a Senior Registrar in Dermatology at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Dr Folakemi Cole-Adiefe, there is a sharp increase in the number of complications of people with skin bleaching in clinics all over the country.

According to her, bleaching can cause complications including, recurrent infections, and stretch marks and in some cases it can go systemic depending on the product that is being used to bleach.

Skin bleaching can lead to an increase in blood sugar, and in some cases can affect the kidneys and put one at increased risk of developing skin cancer.

Cole–Adiefe explained that although, at the early stage of bleaching, the skin actually looks good, after a few years the skin would start to deteriorate and become worse with the individual becoming scary.

The dermatologist who expressed worry that the high rates of bleaching in Nigeria may lead to an epidemic of skin cancer in future, explained that bleaching products damage the DNA and once it is damaged, cancer can occur.

Cole-Adiefe who spoke during a live programme on Good Health Weekly on Vanguard Live noted that: “Our dark  skin is a natural adaptation for sun protection.  People who are lighter don’t have as much melamine which is the pigment in the skin that helps to absorb harmful sun-rays to prevent it from penetrating into the skin and cause damage.  This is the reason why people who live with albinism who have no melamine, are more at risk of skin cancer and that is because they do not have natural melanin  that dark people has.

“It is also a reason why skin cancer is more common in Caucasians than blacks.   When people have melanin on their skin and they use lightening creams that will reduce melanin in their skin and they are living in an environment like Nigeria, which is a tropical country, they are going to be at risk of harmful risk of sun-rays which may not be immediate. It may take years. We are expecting that in a few years time if people continue to bleach their skin we are going to see an increase in the risk of skin cancers. We will probably be on the same level of Caucasian or people with albinism who are known to have increased risk of skin cancer.

“We are beginning to see many cases like that and it is worrisome because we are beginning to think that if by now, we are having such cases what will happen in five or six years time? And you know that things like cancer  are not things  that happen immediately, they happen as a result of long-time damage that is why a person who starts smoking today is not going to develop a lung cancer today but maybe in another 20 years time if he or she has the predisposing factors for lung cancer,” she stated.

Cole –Adiefe further expressed fears that if enough advocacy is not done, the country may begin to see an epidemic of skin cancers. She said many of the products carry NAFDAC registration numbers for other things and not as bleaching products.

“It will be nice if NAFDAC works in hand with the dermatologists because sometimes the active ingredients may not be recommended for what it is actually being used for.

“We have so many products in the market registered by NAFDAC but are not being used appropriately, especially steroids. It is interesting to know that many steroids available in the market are very potent and some of them are not even meant to be used in children at all because it can be absorbed in the bloodstream and cause problems.

Also speaking, a dermatologist with the General Hospital Lagos, Dr Irene Akwara said inorganic and organic bleaching products and is dangerous to the skin.

“A lot of people that are toning are actually bleaching.  There are skin cleansers and toners which sometimes can be recommended but they are not recommended for lightening the skin.  But in 90 per cent of the cases, when somebody says they are toning they are actually bleaching. They just want to use a word that is more acceptable.”