A BINGA mother is appealing for urgent support and specialised training for local health workers on albinism and skin cancer, warning that limited knowledge in clinics continues to put children with the condition at risk.
Mary Mutale, an unemployed mother of three from Chief Sinakoma’s area, said the absence of routine screening, early diagnosis and informed counselling resulted in preventable deaths.
She shared her plight during a mobile clinic visit by the Vikela Skin Cancer Screening Unit, organised by Noble Hands Zimbabwe Trust (NHZT), in Bulawayo.
Mutale’s appeal comes after she lost her first child in 2022 to skin cancer. Her 15-year-old daughter, Waitawatebula Sibanda, also has albinism and Mutale travels long distances to access specialised care, as Binga lacks cancer services.
Speaking during a recently held mobile clinic, Mutale shared the burden she carries as one of only two women in her area raising children with albinism, adding that stigma and discrimination remained widespread.
“When you have a child with albinism, you are discriminated against and called names. Some people even advise me not to bother taking my child to hospital, saying we will not succeed in making her healthy. I have been told that I am wasting my money and that I should rather buy myself food and clothes and wait for my child’s death,” Mutale said.
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She also revealed that there are no local services for cancer patients in Binga, forcing her and her 15-year-old daughter, Sibanda, to travel long distances for care.
“There is nowhere to get help for cancer in Binga. I do not have relatives in Bulawayo, so my trip is always to the hospital and straight back home,” she said.
She added that her daughter walked eight kilometres to and from school and health facilities, despite the extreme heat in the area.
Mutale recounted the loss of her first-born child in 2022 at the age of 19, who succumbed to skin cancer.
“We failed to save him because his cancerous wound had matured. When I finally took him to hospital, doctors said the wound had been there for 10 years and could no longer be treated,” she said.
The trauma of losing her son makes her too anxious about her daughter’s health.
“Because of what her brother went through, I become very uncomfortable whenever she is not well. That is why I make sure to use the little that we have to I travel to get her treated,” she said.
People with albinism face health risks due to the absence of melanin, which makes them vulnerable to sunburn, heat exhaustion and skin cancer.
Rising temperatures linked to climate change have intensified the dangers, making sun avoidance, protective clothing and high-SPF sunscreen essential — yet often unaffordable — survival tools.
“The heat is too much in Binga. Even when you are indoors, you feel it. It is a serious challenge and none of the authorities has helped me,” Mutale said.
She appealed to government authorities and non-governmental organisations to prioritise education and awareness on albinism.
Mutale said she endured emotional pain following the birth of her first child with albinism.
“I was called all sorts of names, and some people even said these things to my husband. It really broke me, because it is not in my power to decide to have a child with albinism,” she said.
Her appeal comes amid growing concern among health advocates that Zimbabwe’s southern Region Five, one of the hottest and most underdeveloped regions, continues to record avoidable skin cancer cases and deaths among persons with albinism due to late diagnosis, limited awareness and costly referral systems that force patients to seek specialised care outside their communities.
NHZT executive director Willard Musiyarira said the organisation was addressing the gap by training local health workers on albinism and skin cancer management.
“We are training local nurses and doctors on albinism and skin cancer management because they are the first point of contact. If they have the right knowledge, lives will be saved long after we leave,” Musiyarira said.
He added that skin cancer remained a leading cause of death among persons with albinism.
“We have recorded a number of deaths, particularly in high-temperature zones. Based on our figures, we lose approximately four people with albinism every month due to skin cancer.
“Medical treatment in Zimbabwe is expensive. Diagnostics are required before treatment can begin, yet these services are not accessible in many hospitals; as a result, many patients abandon treatment.”