A consultant dermatologist, Adebola Ogunbiyi, has called for strong public enlightenment to tackle stigma and isolation associated with skin disorders.
According to her, it is not all skin diseases that are infectious.
Ms Ogunbiyi, a professor of medicine at the College of Medicine,  University of Ibadan, made the call on Tuesday in Lagos.
She said that it was wrong to assume that all skin diseases were infectious.
She noted that skin disorders deeply impacted the social inclusion, productivity and quality of life of those with  them, saying that people suffered psychological distress because  of skin diseases.
She said that there was a need to educate people about skin disorders so that there would be more tolerance.
She said that some people had turned to beggars because of skin disorders, as no one desired to associate with them or buy goods from them.
“There is stigma. There is isolation. People suffer psychological distress just from having disfiguring skin conditions.
“If you go to many prominent places/offices, you won’t see people with skin diseases, not that they did not apply for the jobs, but no one  will take them. Nobody wants them to be at the counter. Therefore,  skin disorder impacts on the quality of lives of people that have it,” she said.
According to the professor, there are patients who will commit suicide because of skin disorders.
“A lot of people dress because of the skin disease they have and not because of what they want to wear. Some don’t even go out of the house because of it.
“People have this wrong assumption that all skin diseases are infectious but it is not so. There are those that are infectious, but there are those that, whether you sleep with the persons having them, they don’t really give you anything.
“There is a need to create awareness about skin disorders,” Ms Ogunbiyi said.
The dermatologist called for inclusion of skin disorder care in the National Health Insurance Scheme so that people affected could easily have access to care.
According to her, people are not supposed to pay out-of-pocket for a disease that is too stigmatising, like skin disease.
Ms Ogunbiyi emphasised the need for the federal government to prioritise dermatology care for improved services to many Nigerians with skin diseases.
“Let the government pay attention to skin disorder care by enhancing access to care. In Nigeria, we have a very good number of Albinos; we shouldn’t be seeing albinos with skin cancers, but we still see a lot of albinos with skin cancers. We see a lot of children with scabies and many with head lice,” she said.

(NAN)