By Makini Brice DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Albinos in Africa live in fear of being murdered for their body parts, which are prized in witchcraft for use in charms and potions, but albinos face a much more pervasive threat: the sun. With little or no melanin – the pigment that colours eyes, hair and skin, and protects the body from the harmful effects of the sun – most albinos in Africa die from skin cancer between the ages of 30 and 40, according to the United Nations. “The number one killer of people with albinism is skin cancer, not machete attacks and muti murders (ritual killings),” said Don Sawatzky, director of operations at Under the Same Sun (UtSS), a Canada-based charity that advocates for albinos.
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Senegal seeks to protect albinos against their biggest killer – the sun