The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has urged the media to join the collective effort on the dangers of bleaching creams.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC, made this call at a sensitisation workshop on dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory controls, which was organised for the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists. Adeyeye said the workshop is aimed at educating and challenging Nigeria health journalists to play front line role in the agency’s effort to eradicate the menace of bleaching creams.

“In 2022, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, wrote to NAFDAC stressing the need to take stringent regulatory action against the rampant cases of some Nigerians using bleaching creams. We immediately took action and made a large seizure and destruction of violating products in trade fair. Bleaching creams damage vital organs in the body, skin irritation, allergy, skin burn, rashes, wrinkles and prolong healing of wounds.

“Black is beautiful, we don’t need to change our colour,” said the NAFDAC boss.

Ronald Hall, Professor of Social Work, Michigan State University, women of colour spent more than ₦6.4trillion (US$8.6b) on skin bleaching cream worldwide in 2020. In many cultures, skin colour is a social marker that is often used by people of colour and whites alike in lieu of race. Attractiveness, marriageability, career opportunities and socioeconomic status are directly correlated with skin colour. As a result, many women of colour seek chemical remedies to lighten their complexion.

Continuing, he stated that the practice is not new. It became popular in many African countries; today, about 77 percent of Nigerians, 27 percent of Senegalese and 35 percent of South African women bleach their skin. Indian caste-based discrimination was outlawed in 1950, but dark-skinned women (and men) are still persecuted – and fair skin remains a distinguishing social factor, associated with purity and elite status.

“This scary statistics has shown that the menace of bleaching creams in Nigeria has become a national health emergency that requires a multifaceted regulatory approach. NAFDAC will constantly engage the mass media, as we strive to bring down to the grass root levels positive impact of our regulatory activities,” said the agency’s DG.

Dr Abubakar Jimoh, NAFDAC’s Director of Public Affairs said the workshop was to arm journalists with the right information and campaign against use of bleaching creams in Nigeria. “Public ignorance is not an excuse before the law. The role of the mass media in promotion of public health is very important not only for cosmetics and all other NAFDAC regulatory products,” he added.

Although the bleaching cream industry is massive globally, bleach cream manufacturers are facing pressure from activists, with many arguing that their products perpetuate a preference for lighter skin. In 2020, Johnson & Johnson announced that it will no longer sell two products marketed to reduce dark spots that were widely used as skin lighteners. L’Oreal, the world’s largest producer of bleach creams, pledged to remove the words “white,” “fair,” and “light” from labels, but it will still manufacture these products.

The movie industry has also been credited with the growing appreciation of darker skin people. The release of Black Panther has been particularly hailed as a major turning point in the move to stem the menace of bleaching skins, which, in many cases, is life-threatening.

Meiza Nigeria