Education Director Reveals: 30% of Students in E/R Engaging in Skin Bleaching

Eastern Regional Education Director, Ivy Asantewa Owus has spoken on the alarming rate of skin skin bleaching among students in the Eastern Region.  According to her statistics, over 30% of the student population including both males and females are actively engaged in skin bleaching.

For this reason, the Ghana Education Service has taken a rigid stand on skin bleaching by making it a part of the harmonized Code of Conduct for students. In this code, bleaching is categorized as improper dressing and is therefore strictly prohibited. However, implementation remains a big challenge because no student has ever been sanctioned for the practice, though it is rife.

Skin bleaching, in a sense, is the process of using products in the forms of creams, soaps, and even professional treatment to lighten skin, and this has been associated with critical health complications. Dermatologists have insisted that long-term use of these products may cause serious conditions like skin cancer, high blood pressure, kidney failure, and lung damage. Ironically, however, most students either remain oblivious to this fact or are willing to go to any length to achieve such beauty standards cultivated in their minds through societal pressures.

The Food And Drugs Authority has been waging a fight against this endemic since it imposed a ban on the sale of hydroquinone-based bleaching products in 2017, but little has been done in terms of enforcement. However, in a more promising move, the FDA said it would, from August 2024, step up its efforts to get bleaching products off the market, especially those containing hydroquinone.

This is now becoming a growing trend of skin bleaching which needs a multi-faceted approach; schools should enhance the enforcement mechanism, while parents and teachers along with health authorities have to work out a plan for educating the students regarding the adverse effects of bleaching. It is only through awareness and strict regulation that this practice can be curbed for better health for the students.