A consultant dermatologist, Adebola Ogunbiyi, has called for strong public enlightenment to tackle stigma and isolation associated with skin disorder, saying it is not all skin diseases that are infectious.
The professor of medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, made the call on Tuesday in Lagos. She said 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 people suffered psychological distress because of skin diseases.
According to her, some people have become beggars because of skin disorders, as no one desired to associate with them or buy goods from them. Ogunbiyi said: “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 added: “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.” 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.
