Mon, 01 Jan 2018 10:30:12 +0000
A 13-YEAR-OLD Albino boy of Nchelenge is afflicted with a cancerous growth on his right cheek and urgently needs specialist treatment in Lusaka.
This has been confirmed to the Daily Nation by Albino Foundation of Zambia president, John Chiti, who only identified the boy as Damascus.
According to Mr Chiti, Damascus had been battling with the cancerous growth since he was two years old, adding that despite several medical trials at Mansa General Hospital, there seemed to be no improvement.
“The young boy of Chofwe Kabili Village is living in abject pain and is now getting weak due to the struggle he has to live with every day,” Mr. Chiti said.
Mansa District Hospital has now sent Damascus back to his village as they have failed to handle his ailment.
Mr. Chiti said that his organisation was in touch with the doctor treating Damascus and recommended that the boy be transferred to Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka for specialist treatment as soon as possible.
People with albinism are prone to skin cancer which results from sun burns because of a pigment which they lack called “Melanin.” This causes the skin to be easily damaged by the sun’s rays.
Albinism is considered to be a hereditary condition characterised by the absence of melanin in particular, in the eyes, skin, hair, scales, feathers or cuticle.
Mr Chiti has advised parents living with children with albinism to take extra care of the children and to make sure that they do not play in the sun or spend a lot of time in the sun.
