Africans with albinism face discrimination, attacks [program]

People in rural parts of Tanzania and other areas of East Africa face a lot of challenges. But life can be particularly difficult for people with albinism.

Albinism is a genetic disorder that causes a baby to be born without melanin, a pigment that gives skin color and protects it from the sun, and people with albinism have pale white skin and hair.

In parts of East Africa some traditional healers believe that body parts from people with albinism have medicinal or magical properties. Nearly 200 people with albinism have been murdered in Africa in recent years, according to the aid group Under the Same Sun. Hundreds of others have been abducted, attacked or had one or more limbs amputated.

But these attacks aren’t the only challenges faced by people with albinism East Africa. On this edition of Global Journalist we’ll hear more about this form of discrimination.

Joining the program:

• Perpetua Senkoro, an education and advocacy officer with the albinism rights group Under the Same Sun.
• Murray Brilliant, a researcher who studies the genetics of albinism at the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin.
• Diane Vogel, director of outreach for the Asante Mariamu Foundation, a group that aids people with albinism in Africa.