Two months after first going to hospital, a 65-year-old woman was dead – and her doctors are blaming the cosmetic creams she used on her face and body for decades. The anonymous patient, from Togo, is one of a string of recent cases reported in medical journals of cancers in black African women linked to skin-lightening creams and lotions, prompting dermatologists to call for better regulation.
“Patients with black skin have a natural SPF of about 15, just by having pigmented skin,” says Prof Ncoza Dlova, head of dermatology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa,. “If they remove that melanin [with skin lightening creams], they’re actually removing the natural protection.”
Something must be to blame for this - is it. perhaps, the lower IQ of sub-Saharans? No, of course not, don't be silly! It's us, as always.
Estimates of skin lightening product use in African countries range from 25% to 80% of women. Lighter skin is often seen as more desirable, in a trend with complex drivers including values imported in the colonial era.
And our infernal inventions, of course:
While the desire for lighter skin is not new, Dlova suspects the rise of social media over the past decade has led to increased use, pointing to smartphone filters that make skin look smoother and lighter.
You won’t be surprised by the fact the ‘answer’ is the same as it would be in the UK- control and enforced diversity:
“Marketing, social media and media all have a role to play – fashion, celebrities and all of that. If they use black models who are lighter in skin colour, the message they are conveying is that you are prettier, you can be a model, you are more attractive if you are lighter. So we need to ensure that the advertisements include diverse skin colours when they are choosing their models,” says Dlova.
She also wants to see skin health education in preschools to teach children to be proud of their natural skin, and to get across the message of using sunscreen.
They can barely read and write, now they are supposed to be chemists too?
