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Germany to support Nigerian Albino Foundation -Envoy
German authorities, in collaboration with the Albino Foundation, have appealed to the federal government to support them to get accurate statistics of people living with albinism in Nigeria.
The German Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Joachim Schimillen made the appeal in Abuja when he hosted members of the Albino Foundation to a reception.
He said "I just learnt today that the Albino would all like to find out how many they are in Nigeria so we need a statistical reliable data. I am thinking of how we can support them to get that.’’
The envoy said the German government took up the initiative to work with albinos in the country to create awareness about the challenges people with albinism suffer in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
Support
He said currently, the support they had given out was by donating some caps and umbrellas to the Albino Foundation to protect them from the sun.
The Ambassador appealed to the press to help in spreading the message of
albinism that it was only a deficiency and therefore people with it should not be
stigmatized.
In his remarks, the president of the Albino Foundation, Dr Jake Ekpelle,
acknowledged and applauded the support of the German government to people
living with albinism in Nigeria.
In his words, ``they have been supportive, we got a vehicle from them, there is a scholarship project we are doing with UNICEF for 35 albino children. There are several other things including the recent interest in supporting us with the National survey.”
Ekpelle expressed the hope that with the help of the German government and the National Population Commission, they would get an accurate data.
According to him, 89.5 percent of albinos die of skin cancer on a daily basis.
NAN/ Qasim/Ekata
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