Time to rethink poor attitude to albinism

MDANTSANE-born Nomaphelo Ntini did not realise she was different until she was in primary school.

Despite her light-coloured hair and equally pale completion, Ntini said she had fitted right in until the day she realised she could not see the blackboard from her desk.

Being moved to a seat in the front row did not help either. Ntini said she had to walk right up to the board, press her nose to it and read the words at certain angles to make them out. It was not long until her fellow pupils complained and the teachers expressed their concern.

“The other kids were able to work from their desks but I always had to get up and go to the board in order to see the work written there. I was young and this confused me.

“A few months later I realised that I was the only one affected by this.

“I was also the only person with different coloured hair and skin,” she said.

Ntini, the middle child of three children, was born with albinism.

According to the Albinism Association of South Africa, albinism is an inherited condition where a person is unable to produce normal colouring of the skin, hair and eyes due to a lack of pigmentation. The condition can be limited to the eyes or include both the hair and skin.

The condition is caused by defects in the hereditary material that determines skin colour. People who have normal pigmentation can still carry the hereditary material.

It can be carried by both the mother and the father.

Because of the lack of pigmentation, the eyes and skin of people with albinism are very sensitive to the light. Due to this sensitivity, people with albinism may develop sores on their skin that could develop into skin cancer.

A person born with albinism usually has light brown or blue eyes,