Nii Tetteh Otu II, Paramount Chief of the Kpone Traditional Area, has raised concerns about the increasing incident of youth engaged in skin bleaching, which according to health practitioners constitute one of the top five out-patient cases in most hospitals in the country.
Nii Otu II noted that any form of unprofessional tampering with the skin can cause skin disorders and compromise a person’s beauty.
The Kpone Paramount Chief in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Kpone, expressed concern that an increasing quest for beauty has created a situation where many people engage in lengthy daily rituals to ensure that they achieved what they considered to be a perfect shade of complexion.
Nii Otu II noted that many youth were engaged in skin bleaching oblivious of the possible dangers associated with the act.
He explained that for some students who engaged in the act, the initiation was from their parents or they imitated their parents at home.
“They seem unaware or unafraid of the dangers associated with this sustained practice,” he said.
The Kpone Paramount Chief added that parents should discourage their children from engaging in such acts, saying it has the tendency to cause damage to their skin.
He said sadly some of these people unable to afford sophisticated creams and soaps, create their own home-made preparations, which was dangerous to the skin.
According to the Kpone Chief, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) must at all times investigate the efficacy of cosmetic products before they are allowed onto the markets.
Nii Otu II urged the public to consider their skins as valuable assets and treat them with all the needed attention they deserved, to avoid skin diseases, which could also affect other organs of their bodies.
Skin bleaching, experts say, comes with hazardous health consequences. The dangers resulting from the use of toxic compounds for skin bleaching include blood cancers such as leukaemia, and cancers of the liver and kidneys. Severe skin conditions can also occur.
Some bleachers use illegal ointments containing toxins like mercury, a metal that blocks production of melanin, which gives the skin its colour, but it can also be toxic.
Nii Otu II therefore called on the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Education Directorate to as a matter of urgency put in measures to curb the menace in the various schools within the Kpone community.
In his response, Evans Harry Arthur, Kpone Katamanso Municipal Education Director, told the Ghana News Agency that such cases would be investigated to ascertain the claims.
He added that when confirmed, such students would be counseled on the dangers that came with skin bleaching.
GNA