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Relief for albinos as govt scraps taxes on protective lotion
The executive director Source of the Nile Union of People Living with Albinism (SNUPA), Mr Peter Ogik (Second right), flanked by Jinja City Deputy Mayor, Ms Fazira Kawuma (Second left), and other officials address media on June 11 ahead of the International Albinism Awareness Day in Jinja City on June 13. PHOTO/ABUBAKER KIRUNDA
What you need to know:
- According to Mr Ogik, there has been a noticeable reduction in the deaths of PWA due to skin cancer caused by a lack of such lotions which his organisation has been able to import in large quantities since 2018
Persons With Albinism (PWA) are breathing a collective sigh of relief after the government scrapped taxes levied on sunscreen lotion, a key emulsion that acts like melanin for their protection from harmful rays of the sun.
In doing so, the government has saved at least 1,500 of them from contracting skin cancer, according to the executive director Source of the Nile Union of Persons with Albinism (SNUPA), Mr Peter Ogik.
“I am happy to announce that as we prepare to celebrate the International Albinism Awareness Day, our organisation has been able to prevent cancer from affecting over 1,500 from the tax-free imported lotions,” he said on Tuesday ahead of the festivities in Jinja City on June 13.
Mr Ogik said the government, through the Ministry of Finance, honoured their request to scrap tax on sunscreen lotion seven years ago, after discovering that most of his colleagues were rapidly passing on due to limited access to sunscreen lotions that were being imported into the country due to heavy taxes.
According to Mr Ogik, there has been a noticeable reduction in the deaths of PWA due to skin cancer caused by a lack of such lotions which his organisation has been able to import in large quantities since 2018.
He said: “Before 2018, the death rate of PWA was at 90 percent, but it has currently reduced to 60 percent because we get tax-free lotions to apply on our members’ skins to prevent cancerous infections.”
Challenges
Despite notable successes, Mr Ogik regretted that the organisation faces a myriad of challenges, including limited funding to purchase the sunscreen lotion, adding that they have petitioned the government to consider establishing sunscreen lotion-manufacturing factories as opposed to importing it.
Jinja City deputy Mayor, Ms Fazira Kawuma, urged the government to equip every health centre with sunscreen lotions and the deployment of dermatologists at those facilities, and more inclusive action plans for PWA in all government sectors to have their impact felt in society.
Ms Kawuma, who also represents female Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) at the city council, further explained that the current inclusion national action plan remains on paper with few PWA having slots in civil service and government schools.
Mr Edmond Watongora, a social worker with SNUPA, appealed to PWA to regularly apply the sunscreen lotions to their skin to stop the destruction of the cover cells, resulting in cancer infection.
He also urged parents with children having issues of albinism to help them access these lotions as early as possible before the situation runs out of hand, noting that more awareness will be conducted during the International Albinism Awareness Day on June 13 at which myths about albinism will be demystified, among other awareness.
