Episode 5 : “2015, entering the field of dermatology“

19/08/2019

In the absence of diagnosis and specialist care, skin diseases that are often benign at the outset have the potential to develop into worrying clinical conditions. But with only one dermatologist on average for between 350,000 and 1 million people in West Africa, caring for skin diseases remains a very real challenge, especially in rural areas. So it was to close the gap represented by the lack of care for the 30% of sub-Saharan Africans affected by skin diseases that Fondation Pierre Fabre decided to become involved in the field of dermatology.

In 2015, it began providing support for the TelederMali teledermatology programme in Mali, extending its action the following year to provide preventive care and treatment for skin cancers in Albinism sufferers; a social group discriminated against in Africa and particularly susceptible to skin cancers. In fact, 50% of albinism sufferers develop skin cancer before the age of 30*.

In our 5th podcast, we hear from Professor Ousmane Faye, Head of Dermatology at the National Centre for Disease Control (CNAM) in Bamako, Mali, and Lalla Aïcha Diakité, Chair of the albinism charity Solidarité pour l’Insertion des Albinos du Mali (SIAM)… Both are committed Fondation Pierre Fabre partners.

* source : A.E. Cruz-Inigo et coll., « Albinism in Africa: Stigma, Slaughter and Awareness Campaigns », Dermatol Clin 29 (2011) 79-87.