In an Iraqi village, a little girl hides skin disease from neighbours

WAHED HAZIRAN, Irak: Fouryear-old Iraqi girl Haura should be enjoying her childhood – games in the street, tearing in and out of friends’ homes and small squabbles over toys.

Instead, a rare congenital skin condition covering much of her upper body in black marks and hair has made her the object of ridicule in her village, about 200 kilometres south of Baghdad.

Everyday, Haura’s parents dress her in long sleeved shirts and high collars, but it’s a losing battle – her neck gives her away, to laughter and jeers.

“In two years, she will have to go to school – we really dread that”, says Haura’s mother Alia Khafif at the family home, in Wahed Haziran, Diwaniya province.

“How will the other children behave with her? We can’t guarantee that she’ll be comfortable in a school and this is the biggest obstacle for her future”, sighs Khafif, dressed in a traditional long black veil.

The black marks and hair cover Haura’s shoulders and almost her entire back, along with much of her arms and neck.

But things could still get a lot worse. Her condition, a giant form of naevus – birthmarks or moles – make her highly vulnerable to malignant melanoma, the most dangerous skin cancer.

To ward off a potentially ‘fatal’ outcome, the best treatments would be a skin graft and laser sessions, dermatologist Aqil al-Khaldi tells AFP.

He also recommends psychological help. But Haura’s despairing family can’t afford these things.

Iraq’s medical system has been destroyed by the 15 years of chaos that has followed the toppling in 2003 of dictator Saddam Hussein, and by more than a decade of sanctions before that. — AFP

— AFP photo Haura with a rare skin congenital disease that covers much of her upper body in black marks and hair, looks at a plastic toy frame as she sits by her mother in her family home in the village of Wahed Haziran, Diwaniya province.