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Adeyinka Adedipe As the world celebrates the 2024 International Albinism Awareness Day, a non-governmental organisation, Initiative for Advancement of the Albinism Cause, has solicited support to sustain its skin cancer surgery programme for persons living with albinism. The Founder of INAAC, Joy Odigie, made the plea today in Benin, the Edo State capital on Thursday. The International Albinism Awareness Day is celebrated every June 13 and this year is themed, ‘10 years of IAAD: A decade of collective progress’.

The date was selected because it was the date of the first UN resolution on albinism in 2013. This year’s theme highlights the collective efforts made over the past decade to promote understanding, acceptance, and support for individuals living with albinism. In 2014, the United Nations declared June 13 International Albinism Awareness Day.



She said that persons with albinism were prone to skin cancers due to the lack or minimal amount of melanin in their skin. Odigie added, “Melanin pigmentation gives the skin its dark colouration as well as provides natural protection for the skin against the harmful effects of the sun rays. “When persons with albinism have prolonged exposure to UVA and UVB rays of the sun, they can develop skin tumours, freckles, and skin cancers.

” She said that the increasing burden of skin cancers among persons with albinism in Nigeria prompted the NGO to start a subsidized skin cancer surgery programme. “Climate change has led to r.

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