There is an epidemic of skin bleaching in various areas of Africa as the transformation of living human bodies is becoming an increasingly common practice on the continent, says a senior official of a leading pan-African research body based in Dakar, the Senegalese capital.
Mr. Ato Kwamena Onoma, Programme Officer at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), made the remarks during a meeting on “remaking of African bodies”, held here Friday.
He said the practice of altering bodies for aesthetic and other reasons is common to all human societies and is deeply rooted in the histories of communities. “But it is the case that new practices are being introduced in various areas of Africa and some already existing practices are taking new and more intense forms,” he added.
According to him, such practices pose harmful social, economic and health effects for the people. Concerns over the harmful effects of the practices, he continued, have prompted bans on certain products and chemicals by states in Ghana, South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr. Onoma pointed out that some people have advocated for sensitization and education of the masses on the dangers of transforming living human bodies as a possible way of tackling the problem.
He said CODESRIA had just come up with a project on “Remaking African bodies” which would increase peoples’ understanding of the increasing widespread practice of altering the shape, size and complexion of bodies in Africa.
The project would also promote the influence of the knowledge produced on ways of dealing with the more pernicious health and economic effects and implications of the practices in Africa.
Mr. Onoma revealed that the Dakar meeting would be followed by a major international conference to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 3-4 November, 2016.
Also speaking, Dr. Ebrima Sall, CODESRIA’s Executive Director, buttressed the need for more dialogue and research process on the way African body was being changed and what would be gained from the change.
He underscored the need for researchers, policy makers and professionals to get organized in handling the issue of transforming living human bodies in Africa.
Meanwhile, CODESRIA’s new project, “African bodily transformations”, aims to promote dialogue between policy makers and African researchers working on these issues in order to produce knowledge that can contribute to the development of public policies.
Source PANA
