Jinja mayor calls for inclusion as albinism awareness day marked

Jinja City Mayor Peter Okocha Kasolo has called for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in different programmes in an effort to reduce stigma.

Speaking during the celebrations to mark international albinism awareness day organised by Source of the Nile Union of Persons living with Albinism [Snupa] in Jinja City on Tuesday, Kasolo said planning at different levels should include slots for PWDs.

Kasolo said he has discovered that there are special skills in persons with disabilities which many people have not realised.

‘’For me I was ignorant about leadership when I had just entered office, but my appointment of visually impaired Fazira Kawuma as my deputy has made me never to go astray due to her wise guidance and I even started thinking that she is not blind,’’ Mr Kasolo said.

Kasolo added that he has now stopped referring to PWDs as "disabled people", but “persons with special abilities.”

Kasolo is bitter that Uganda National Bureau of standards [Unbs] has persisted in charging testing fees for sunscreen lotions used by albinos to protect them from direct cancer causing sunshine.

‘’I don't think one needs to go to university to understand that sunscreen lotion is a medicine for people with albinism. However, Unbs continues to charge something used to sustain life,’’ Kasolo added.

Previously asked to comment on the matter, Unbs spokesperson Barbra Kamusiime, told this publication that it’s not possible to scrap the charges because they are used to meet the costs of reagents used in testing the quality of the products imported.

According to Kamusiime, the charges for cosmetics, including sun screen lotions, range from Shs20,000 to Shs400,000 depending on the parameters involved during the testing process.

Snupa Executive Director Peter Ogik revealed that the organisation secured a cryl gun machine used to burn cancer cells on skins of persons with albinism but it's not enough for them.

According to Ogik, a cryl gun costs  Shs6m which he said the organisation cannot afford as he appealed for government support.

“We have been able to secure the second cryl gun to supplement the existing one that has become weak. However, we can't go beyond this due to limited finances,” he added.

Ogik said 22 people were recently discovered to be having skin cancer but eighteen of them recovered from the deadly disease which he partially attributed to the cryl gun.

John Chris Ninsima, who represents the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), urged the government to make supplies for persons with disabilities free of charge instead of waiting to contribute condolence funds upon their death.