MAFALDA SOTO VALDÉS1*, STÉPHANIE ACKER2
*Corresponding author
1. Beyond Suncare, Madrid, Spain
2. BASF Grenzach GmbH, Grenzach-Wyhlen, Germany

Abstract

Beyond Suncare is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that aims to protect people with albinism from skin cancer, discrimination and attacks. The NGO has a longstanding cooperation with BASF to develop and provide sunscreen that meets the specific challenges of people with albinism in the sub-Saharan region. The chemical company provides its expertise and ingredients free of charge. Together, Beyond Suncare and BASF have formulated an innovative sun care product that cuts the risk of skin cancer for vulnerable people. This is just one way that this initiative is improving quality of life, safety and dignity for people with albinism in Africa.

HEALTH AND DIGNIFIED LIFE FOR PEOPLE WITH ALBINISM
More than 200,000 people live with albinism in Africa, and the sub-Saharan region is home to more people with albinism than anywhere else in the world. For this group, protection from the sun is a matter of life and death. 9 out of 10 people with the condition die of skin cancer before the age of 30.

Beyond Suncare is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that is striving to ensure safety and dignity for people with albinism in Africa. The story of this NGO begins in 2009, when its two founders met. Mafalda Soto, a pharmacist specialised in tropical medicine and international health, was coordinating socio-sanitary projects to support vulnerable and excluded groups in Malawi. Lorea Bagazgoitia, a dermatologist, was working with people with albinism in Tanzania and training African specialists to treat skin cancer in people with albinism. In 2016, the two co-founders established Beyond Suncare, together with a third co-founder, Rocío Díaz-Agero. The NGO aims to guarantee the right to health and dignified life for people with albinism in Africa. And BASF has been partnering with the ...