Sub-standard cosmetics are killing Tanzanian women
By Godfrey Olukya 6-10-2012
As many women in Tanzania attempt to breach their bodies so that they look brown, they are putting their lives at a risk due to the dangerous chemicals in the sub-standard items they use.
According to medical experts in Tanzania, many women now days go to hospitals with skin disorders caused by the cosmetics. Some even get infected by skin cancer which later leads to their death.
Dr Wilson Morobo of Dar es Salam hospital said’ Cosmetics are the most recent public health hazard in Tanzania. Many women using the cosmetics get skin disorders. Cases of skin cancer have also increased among women.’
Morobo said that they have for sometime been warning women against using cosmetics especially those meant to breach their skins but they have continued using them.
He said,’ Even when we warn them, more women continue using the cosmetics with dangerous chemical properties to alter their appearance. We can not force them to stop.’
Dermatologists in Tanzania say that they are in business since they get many patients whose skin problems are a direct result of the use of substandard locally made cosmetics.
Specialist have cautioned that Tanzania will soon start seeing record numbers of young women who have lost the ability to conceive because of unknowingly misusing cosmetic products.
According to one of the dermatologists, Dr Ambrose Kunge, he gets over ten women with skin related diseases. He attributes most of the causes of the skin disorders to use of sub-standard cosmetics.
‘I wonder why many African women aspire to become brown. They end up using substandard cosmetics that make their skins sick.’
END
