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intro: selling whitening creams is a lucrative business in Africa worth millions of US dollars a year. Shelves in pharmacies are stacked high with lotions, creams and soaps all promising to make women whiter and supposedly more beautiful. They cost anything from $3 to $10 each, a huge amount of money in countries where the average wage is less than a dollar a day. The products may come from Morocco, Nigeria, the United States, Europe or Saudi Arabia.
history: skin bleaching creams were first pushed onto the market in the United States for African-American women who were encouraged to keep their skins lightened in an effort to emulate the Caucasian woman, who was put on a pedestal as the ultimate measure of human beauty. Later, the market was expanded to apartheid South Africa and then onwards to East Africa until it eventually ended up in West Africa where it has taken root, from Senegal to Cameroon.
health concerns: the sad thing about these skin bleaching creams is the highly potent and toxic chemicals they contain, which are eventually harmful to their users. Most of them contain corticosteroids and hydroquinones, which peel off the outer layers of the skin, exposing it to the harmful rays of the sun. Bleaching can cause skin cancer and the poorest people are the most at risk, because the cheaper the product, the more dangerous it is. Furthermore, there is suspicion of an increased risk of kidney failure as a result of the mercury contained in some of the products that people use for bleaching.
disturbing results: recent surveys highligth some disturbing results. In Bamako, the capital of Mali, researchers calculated that 25% of the population is following this practice, while in some studies in Dakar, Senegal, up to 52% prevalence was observed. A study in Pretoria, South Africa revealed as much as 35%, while the most disturbing study of all, conducted in 2002, showed a usage rate reaching 77% in Lagos, Nigeria. A survey conducted in Accra between 2003 and 2004 revealed that unskilled workers and the unemployed bleach more while the educated bleach less.
policy measures: some countries are speaking out. The Kenya Bureau of Standards banned several lotions, gels and soaps used for skin lightening that contained hydroquinone. Legislation in South Africa has also resulted in the ban of mercuric soap and other toxic bleaching products. Nevertheless, it has done little to halt the proficient market. In Gambia, government officials have not only banned all skin-bleaching products, but left open the option of arresting those found with bleached skin. There are bans on the sale of bleaching lotions, creams and soaps in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda, and skin specialists have asked for a ban in Senegal as well… But the products are still easily available almost everywhere in Africa for anyone interested in buying as much as she wants.
conclusion: however, governmental measures do not necessarily stem the practise. Education is, as usual, the keyword. And it takes time… What's ironic is that in Europe and North America, many lighter-skinned people use tanning creams and lotions to get a flawless, bronze complexion. But while the West nurtures a white culture in which being too pale is bad, for many in Africa bleaching provides an escape mechanism-the lighter you are, the more attractive and financially secure you must be. Time to change everywhere, don’t you think?
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